Why it works: Clam and butter work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 840 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Steamed Clams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash clams thoroughly, scrubbing with a brush and changing the water several times.
Steam
Place clams in a large kettle and add hot water.
Cover the kettle and steam until the shells partially open, being careful not to overcook.
Serve
Serve with melted butter and optional lemon juice or vinegar.
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.
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Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together840 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Clam + lemontop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together152 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Are the main ingredient; their shells open as they cook, showing they are done.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and flavour to the cooked clams when served.
The step that matters
Steam until the shells partially open. Overcooking toughens clam meat as its proteins contract and dry out, so stop once the shells begin to open.
“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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