Skip to main content
Main

Deviled Oysters

Deviled oysters are oysters coated with a mustard egg yolk mixture, rolled in breadcrumbs, and broiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Deviled Oysters

Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Deviled Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, mustard, salt, and pepper.

  2. Wipe the oysters dry and coat them with the mixture.

Coat and cook

  1. Roll the coated oysters in fine bread crumbs.

  2. Broil the oysters over live coals until golden.

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.

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.

  1. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  2. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + oystertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Mustard + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,484 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolk
Binds the coating so it clings to the oysters and helps it set.
Mustard
Adds sharp, tangy flavor that cuts through the richness of the oysters.
Fine bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden crust during broiling.

The step that matters

Broil the oysters over live coals until golden. Oysters cook quickly and turn rubbery if overheated, so watch closely. The crumb coating should brown before the oyster inside becomes tough.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, oyster, bread):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, oyster, bread. 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.

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipesBread OmeletteBread Omelette60 recipesOatmeal BreadOatmeal Bread51 recipes