Why it works: Oyster and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,255 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Oyster Saute
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oysters
Drain and dry the oysters with a towel.
Sprinkle the oysters with pepper and roll them in flour.
Cook
In a frying pan, cook the bacon until all the fat is rendered, then remove the bacon.
Cover the bottom of the pan with the oysters and cook until crisp and brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side.
Serve
Serve the oysters on squares of buttered toast.
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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Oyster + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,255 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,663 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Oyster + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,582 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (grass, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main flavor and a tender interior, with a crisp floured exterior from browning.
- Flour
- Coats the oysters so they brown and crisp in the hot fat.
- Bacon
- Renders fat into the pan for frying and adds smoky, savory flavor.
The step that matters
Cover the bottom of the pan with the oysters and cook until crisp and brown on one side. The pan must be hot and the oysters should not be crowded, so they brown and crisp rather than steam. Leaving them to sit until a crust forms also helps them release from the pan before turning.
“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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