Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Vipava Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the beans overnight.
Cut the sauerkraut into strips.
Cook the meat, potatoes, beans and sauerkraut separately.
When the meat is cooked, bone it and cut into cubes.
Dice the potatoes.
Crush the beans.
Make the soup
Make a roux with the fat, flour and onion.
Put meat and vegetables into a pot; add the roux and the bay leaves.
Cover with the stock; cook 5 minutes longer.
Before serving, add the sour cream.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 11 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Bean | not in our table | 0 |
| Sauerkraut | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,517 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Beans + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together655 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
-
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beans
- Soaked and crushed beans thicken the soup and add body and earthy flavour.
- Sauerkraut
- Adds sourness that gives the soup its characteristic tang.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savoury meaty flavour to the broth.
- Potatoes
- Soften during cooking and add starch that thickens the soup slightly.
- Flour
- Forms a roux with the fat that thickens the soup smoothly.
- Sour cream
- Adds richness and a mild tang stirred in at the end.
The step that matters
Adding the sour cream. Sour cream can curdle or separate if it boils. Adding it just before serving, off the heat or at low heat, keeps it smooth and creamy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, pork, potato, flour, onion, garlic, cream):
- Cuminfits better
- Thymefits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beans, pork, potato, flour, onion, garlic, cream. 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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