Name: Pork Chile Verde with Red Chile Salsa
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 3 cups (or more) chicken broth, divided; 1 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed, cut into 1/2-inch wedges, divided; 1 bunch green onions, coarsely chopped; 1 1/2 cups (packed) fresh cilantro with tender stems; Olive oil; 6 garlic cloves, peeled; 1 4- to 4 1/2-pound pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes; 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups); 1 tablespoon cumin seeds; 3/4 cup diced roasted peeled seeded mild green chiles (such as Hatch or Anaheim); 2 teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican); 1 pound yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch cubes chopped; Fresh cilantro; Ingredient info: Look for tomatillos (green, tomato-like fruits with papery husks) at supermarkets and Latin markets.

Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, olive, garlic, pork, cumin, oregano):

Thymefits better
Rosemaryfits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, olive, garlic, pork, cumin, oregano. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Seed	not in our table	0
Fruit	not in our table	0

Pork Chile Verde with Red Chile Salsa