Why it works: Butter and bread 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
Mince the lobster very fine.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.
Add melted butter and enough bread crumbs to form a mixture that can be shaped into balls.
Shape the mixture into pear-shaped balls using your hands.
Coat and fry
Dip each ball in the beaten egg.
Roll the balls in sifted cracker or bread crumbs.
Fry in hot lard or butter 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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Butter + breadtop 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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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main flavour and the body of the croquettes.
- Bread crumbs
- Bind the minced lobster so it holds a shape when formed into balls.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the mixture, keeping the filling tender.
- Beaten egg
- Coats the balls so the crumb coating adheres and sets during frying.
The step that matters
Fry in hot lard or butter until golden brown. If the fat is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before it browns. Hot fat sets the egg and crumb crust quickly, keeping the filling moist inside.
“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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