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Beef Tea

A simple beef broth made by simmering minced beef in water, seasoned with salt, optionally thickened with arrow‑root, rice, or barley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,265 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Beef Tea

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Mince the beef and place it in a covered crockery jar.

  2. Pour just enough cold water to cover the meat and let it soak for 2 to 3 hours.

Simmer and finish

  1. Place the jar on the stove or in a 350°F (175°C) oven and let it simmer for 2 to 3 hours, ensuring it does not boil.

  2. Add a little water as it evaporates.

  3. Strain the mixture and season to taste.

  4. For added nourishment, stir in a little arrow-root, rice, or barley if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + ricetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,265 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the main flavour and protein, which releases into the liquid during slow simmering.

The step that matters

Keep the jar from boiling. Gentle simmering draws flavour out of the meat gradually and keeps the broth clear. A rolling boil makes the liquid cloudy and can toughen the meat.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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