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 ↓
Coened Beef Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the cold boiled corned beef and cold boiled potatoes.
If desired, chop the onion.
Cook the hash
In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped beef, potatoes, and onion to the pan.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pour in enough milk or cream to moisten the mixture.
Cover the pan and heat until hot.
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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled corned beef
- Provides the main savory meat flavor and chewy texture of the hash.
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Supply starch and body that bind the hash and give it a soft, hearty texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the hash brown lightly in the pan.
- Milk or cream
- Moistens the mixture so it heats through softly rather than drying out.
The step that matters
Pour in enough milk or cream to moisten the mixture. Too little liquid leaves the hash dry and crumbly, while too much makes it soggy. Adding just enough moisture lets the potatoes soften and the beef stay tender as the mixture heats.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, butter, pepper, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Tomatofits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, butter, pepper, milk. 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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