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 ↓
Mushroom Soup with Buckwheat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the onion and garlic, slice the mushrooms, and wash the buckwheat.
Make the soup
Heat the oil and lightly sauté the onion.
Add the mushrooms and the garlic and continue to sauté.
Add the salt, vegetable seasoning, buckwheat, and the bay leaf, and cover with water.
Simmer gently.
Finish
Just before it is completely cooked, add pepper, sour cream mixed with flour, the chopped parsley, and vinegar to taste.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable | 1 tbsp (14g) | 120 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Mushrooms | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Buckwheat | 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).
-
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Mushroom + buckwheattop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Mushroom + garlictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,700 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms
- Provide the main earthy flavour and body of the soup.
- Buckwheat
- Thickens the soup and adds a nutty, grainy texture as it cooks.
- Onions
- Build a sweet, savoury base when sautéed in oil.
- Sour cream
- Adds richness and a tangy creaminess to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Adding the sour cream. Sour cream mixed with flour and added near the end, off the boil, helps it blend smoothly and resist curdling. Adding it to a rolling boil can cause it to separate.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, buckwheat, onion, garlic, cream, vinegar, parsley):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Celeryfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, buckwheat, onion, garlic, cream, vinegar, parsley. 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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