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Spicy Tomato Soup

A tomato soup with spicy meatballs, onions, tomatoes, serrano chiles, and cilantro, served with corn tortillas and refried beans.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and onion 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 ↓

Spicy Tomato Soup

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Finely chop 1 bunch of cilantro, removing tough stems.

  2. Combine ground beef, eggs, rice, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin in a large bowl, mixing well.

  3. Shape the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Make the soup

  1. Bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot over high heat.

  2. Add the meatballs and 1/4 cup uncooked rice, and boil for 30 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the top.

  3. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.

  4. Add 2 sliced onions, 2 sliced tomatoes, and about one-sixth of the serrano chiles, and sauté until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

  5. Add the onion mixture to the meatballs and broth, along with the remaining serrano chiles; reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

  6. Just before serving, stir in the chopped cilantro.

Serve

  1. Serve soup with warm corn tortillas and refried beans.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1192Calories
53 gProtein
36 gFat
159 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 14 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatballnot in our table0
Soupnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cumin + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Pepper + cumintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,382 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground beef
Forms the meatballs and provides the main body and savory flavor of the soup.
Eggs
Bind the meatball mixture so the meatballs hold their shape while boiling.
Rice
Adds bulk and softness to the meatballs and helps them stay tender.
Flour
Helps the meatballs hold moisture and keeps them from becoming dry or crumbly.
Onions
Soften and turn sweet when sautéed, adding depth to the broth.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and body to the broth as they cook down.

The step that matters

Boil the meatballs for 30 minutes and skim the scum. Scum rising from the meat and fat is mostly coagulated protein and fat. Skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting while the meatballs cook through in a steady boil.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, egg, rice, flour, pepper, garlic, cumin):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Okrafits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, rice, flour, pepper, garlic, cumin. 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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