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Beep Steak Smothered in Onions

Beef steak served with fried onions, butter, and lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beep Steak Smothered in Onions

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the onions

  1. Slice the onions.

  2. Melt the butter and lard in a skillet over medium heat.

  3. Add the onions and stir constantly while frying until they are deep golden brown.

  4. Transfer the cooked onions to a hot dish and cover to keep warm.

Cook the steak and serve

  1. In the same skillet, quickly fry the beef steak to your desired doneness.

  2. Serve the steak on a hot platter, topped with the fried onions and lumps of butter.

  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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 + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steak
Provides the main protein, cooked quickly so it stays tender and juicy.
Onions
Caramelize through frying, developing sweetness and deep golden color.
Butter
Adds fat for frying and rich flavor to the onions and finished dish.
Lard
Adds fat with a high smoking point for frying the onions and steak.

The step that matters

Frying the onions until deep golden brown. Stirring constantly over medium heat lets sugars caramelize gradually. Heat that is too high can scorch the onions before they turn sweet and golden, leaving a bitter taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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