Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Hot Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Sprinkle the sliced cabbage lightly with pepper and salt.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, mix the butter and vinegar, then heat over the fire.
In a bowl, mix the raw eggs, milk (or cream), and sugar.
Slowly stir the egg mixture into the heated vinegar.
Cook the slaw
Add the cabbage to the mixture and heat until tender and well scalded.
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.
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 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).
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Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the warm sauce as they set, binding it to the cabbage.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the slaw's tangy flavour.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and body, softening the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness.
- Cabbage
- Forms the main bulk of the dish, turning tender as it heats.
The step that matters
Slowly stir the egg mixture into the heated vinegar. Adding the eggs too quickly can scramble them into lumps. Adding them slowly while stirring lets the egg proteins thicken the sauce evenly.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, egg, vinegar, milk, sugar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, egg, vinegar, milk, sugar. 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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