Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Hominy Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine warm boiled hominy, milk or water, and flour in a bowl.
Beat the eggs and stir them into the mixture along with the salt.
Cook
Heat a griddle and pour batter to form cakes.
Fry until golden brown on both sides.
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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hominy
- Provides the bulk and tender, slightly grainy body of the cakes.
- Flour
- Gives the batter structure so the cakes hold their shape on the griddle.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add richness and structure as they set.
- Milk or water
- Hydrates the flour and hominy to form a pourable batter.
The step that matters
Frying until golden brown on both sides. Browning comes from Maillard reactions on the cooked surface, which add flavor and color. Flipping only once the underside is set keeps the cakes from tearing or staying pale and doughy in the centre.
“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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