Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
In a kettle, fry the chopped pork until brown.
Add the clam liquor and the finely chopped clams.
Stir in the sliced potatoes and onions.
Season with pepper and cook for 45 minutes.
Add water if there isn't enough juice.
Just before serving, stir in the crumbled soda crackers.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together80 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork
- Renders fat as it browns, adding savory flavor to the base of the chowder.
- Clams
- Provide the main seafood flavor and texture, and their liquor adds briny taste.
- Potatoes
- Soften during cooking and thicken the chowder while adding body.
- Soda crackers
- Crumbled into the chowder at the end, they thicken the broth slightly.
The step that matters
Cooking the chowder for 45 minutes. Simmering for a long time keeps the potatoes and onions tender, but boiling hard can toughen clams and make them rubbery. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pork, potato, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
- Tomatofits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pork, potato, 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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