Why it works: Potato and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,798 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Breakfast
Ingredients
Directions
Make the hash
Mix the minced corned beef and mashed potatoes in a bowl. Season with pepper.
In a frying pan, heat the broth or gravy to a boil.
Stir in the meat and potato mixture, tossing and scraping it toward the center until heated through.
Serve
Serve on a hot platter with triangles of fried bread around the base.
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 + tomatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,798 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corned beef
- Provides the main meaty flavor and the chopped texture of the hash.
- Mashed potatoes
- Binds the meat together and adds body and moisture to the hash.
- Broth or gravy
- Adds moisture and savory flavor as the hash heats through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the hash brown and taste rounded.
The step that matters
Stirring the hash while it heats. Tossing and scraping the mixture toward the center keeps it from sticking and burning on the pan. Letting it sit still can scorch the bottom while the rest stays cold.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, butter, tomato, bread):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
- Onionfits about as well
- Carrotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, butter, tomato, 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.
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