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Soup Stock

A clear beef stock made by simmering beef shins, onions, carrots, herbs, salt, and pepper in water for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Soup Stock

Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Combine beef, onions, carrots, soup herbs, salt, and pepper in a large pot.

  2. Pour in 4 quarts of cold water and bring to a boil.

  3. Skim off any foam, then reduce heat and cover, allowing to simmer for 6 to 8 hours.

Strain and chill

  1. Strain the stock and let it cool.

  2. Refrigerate overnight and remove the fat from the top before using.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,606 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

Shin of beef
Releases gelatin and collagen during long simmering, giving the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
Onions
Add savory sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth as they cook.
Carrots
Contribute natural sweetness and a subtle aromatic background to the stock.

The step that matters

Skim off any foam after bringing to a boil. Foam contains coagulated proteins and impurities that can cloud the stock and taint its flavor if left in. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, pepper. 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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