Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
German Noodles
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Beat the eggs well and mix in the flour to form a firm dough.
Knead the dough thoroughly and divide it into two parts.
Roll each part out thin and let it dry slightly without hardening.
Roll the dough up and cut it into small pieces the size of a large pea.
Cook the noodles
Bring salted water to a boil and add the noodle pieces.
Cook until done, then drain and add to your boiling soup.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that gives the dough its structure and firmness.
- Eggs
- Add moisture and fat to the dough, making it richer and more pliable for rolling.
The step that matters
Letting the dough dry slightly without hardening. The dough must be dry enough to hold its shape when cut, but not so dry it cracks or becomes brittle. Gluten and moisture balance decide whether the noodles stay tender and hold together in the soup.
“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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