Why it works: Butter and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Steak Dressed with Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the steak
Beat the steak well.
Cook
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Season the steak with salt and pepper, then add it to the skillet.
Cook for a few moments, then turn the steak over.
Place the oysters on top of the steak, cover the skillet, and cook for 5 minutes.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + oystertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,663 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak
- Forms the main body of the dish and browns in the hot butter for flavor.
- Butter
- Conducts heat into the steak and adds richness and browning.
- Oysters
- Cook gently under cover, adding a briny, savory flavor to the steak.
The step that matters
Turning the steak over. Turning too early, before a seared crust has formed, can cause the steak to stick and tear. Wait until the underside releases easily from the pan before flipping.
“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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