Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pork and Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Soak the beans in water for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water every 6 hours.
Boil the soaked beans in water for 30 minutes to 3 hours until tender.
Pack and seal
In a can, place a piece of pork, then add the boiled beans.
Pour the tomato sauce over the beans and pork.
Seal the can and process according to canning guidelines.
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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Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,000 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sauce + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 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
- Small white pea or navy beans
- Form the main body of the dish and absorb flavour as they cook until tender.
- Pork
- Adds savoury richness and fat that flavours the beans during processing.
- Tomato sauce
- Provides moisture and acidity that coat the beans and pork in the can.
The step that matters
Seal the can and process according to canning guidelines. Sealed low-acid foods can harbour bacteria that cause botulism if not heated long enough at the correct pressure. Following tested canning guidelines ensures the contents reach a temperature that destroys these spores, so the jar stays safe to store.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, pork, sauce, sugar):
- Mustardfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Sweet potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beans, pork, sauce, 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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