Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Lobster Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Pound the leftover lobster meat until the dark and light meat and coral are well mixed.
Add ½ cup fine bread crumbs, black pepper, coarse sea salt, cayenne pepper, and melted butter. Mix well.
Form the mixture into egg-shaped or round balls.
Coat and fry
Roll each ball in beaten egg, then coat with additional fine bread crumbs.
Fry the croquettes in boiling oil until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster meat
- Provides the main flavor and the protein that gives the croquettes their body.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind the filling, while the coating browns and crisps in the fryer.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that keeps the filling tender and adds flavor.
- Egg
- Binds the filling and helps the crumb coating stick to each ball.
The step that matters
Fry in boiling oil until golden brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before it browns. If the oil is too hot, the outside darkens before the filling is heated through. Holding the oil at a steady frying temperature gives a crisp, evenly cooked croquette.
“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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