Name: Rick Bayless’ Smoky Peanut Mole Recipe with Pork Tenderloin
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 2 medium (about 1 ounce total) dried ancho chiles, stemmed & seeded; 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1/2 small white onion, sliced; 2 garlic cloves, peeled; 8 ounces (1 medium-large round or 3 to 4 plum) ripe tomatoes; 1 cup dry roasted peanuts, plus a additional chopped for garnish; 2 slices firm white bread, torn into pieces; 2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded; 1/2 tsp cinnamon, preferably freshly ground Mexican canela; 1/3 tsp allspice, preferably freshly ground; About 3 1/2 cups chicken broth; 1/2 cup fruity red wine; 1 tbsp cider vinegar; 2 bay leaves; Salt to taste; 1 tbsp sugar; 2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins; 2 tbsp olive oil; Salt and pepper; Cilantro for garnish

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + peanuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together877 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Plum + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together513 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Clove + plumtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together446 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, onion, garlic, clove, peanut, bread, cinnamon):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Coconutfits better
Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, onion, garlic, clove, peanut, bread, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
White Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Roasted Peanut	not in our table	0
Cider	not in our table	0

Rick Bayless’ Smoky Peanut Mole Recipe with Pork Tenderloin