Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Frying Batter
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Sift the flour, then add salt and pepper.
Make a well in the center and add the egg yolk and salad oil.
Mix with tepid water and milk.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold in just before using.
Let the batter stand for at least an hour.
Fry
Dip pieces of meat, fruit, or fish into the batter to coat.
Drop into hot fat and fry 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.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the batter that coats the food.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps bind the batter to the food.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiffness and folded in, they add lightness and airiness to the batter.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat, contributing tenderness and a crisp texture to the fried coating.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, along with browning from its milk sugars.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites just before using. Stiffly whipped egg whites trap air that gives lightness, but they deflate over time. Folding them in just before frying keeps the batter airy and crisp.
“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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