Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Oyster Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, make a thick batter by mixing the eggs, bread crumbs, flour, milk, pepper, and salt.
Heat lard in a frying pan until hot.
Fry and serve
Scoop a tablespoon of batter, place a large oyster in it, and carefully drop it into the hot lard.
Fry until both sides are light brown.
Serve hot, perfect for breakfast.
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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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firmly while frying.
- Stale bread crumbs
- Add body and absorb moisture so the batter holds around the oyster.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the batter and helps it brown during frying.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the batter stays thick yet spreadable.
The step that matters
Dropping the oyster into the hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisping. Carefully lowering the coated oyster keeps the batter from splashing and breaking apart.
“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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