Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Pick out all the meat from the body and claws of the lobster and mince it.
Set aside the coral for the dressing.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, rub the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs into a smooth paste.
Gradually add the salad oil, mustard, salt, sugar, cayenne pepper, and the coral, mixing well.
Moisten with vinegar until the dressing is thin enough to pour over the minced lobster.
Combine
Stir well to ensure the lobster is thoroughly coated.
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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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main body of the salad as minced meat that carries the dressing.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Their yolks are rubbed into a paste that thickens and enriches the dressing.
- Salad oil
- Adds fat and richness, helping the dressing emulsify into a smooth, pourable texture.
- Prepared mustard
- Its emulsifying properties help hold the oil and yolk mixture together.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and thins it to a pourable consistency.
The step that matters
Adding the oil gradually to the yolk paste. Adding oil slowly while mixing lets the yolk and mustard emulsify the fat into the paste. Adding it too fast can split the dressing into greasy separated layers.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, egg, sugar, pepper, vinegar, sauce):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Horseradishfits less well
- Cucumberfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, egg, sugar, pepper, vinegar, sauce. 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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