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Kapusniak

A hearty Polish soup of pork, sauerkraut, and spices, simmered with broth and optional bacon and raisins.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Kapusniak

Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the broth

  1. Cook pork shanks in water in a 5-quart kettle for 20 minutes.

  2. Skim off foam.

  3. Add onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, and parsley.

  4. Cook about 45 minutes, or until meat is tender.

  5. Remove meat from broth.

  6. Strain broth; return to kettle.

Build the soup

  1. Remove meat from bones; discard skin and bones.

  2. Dice meat.

  3. Rinse sauerkraut with cold water; drain.

  4. Add sliced meat, drained sauerkraut, beef broth, and if desired, bacon and raisins to kettle.

  5. Simmer 1 hour.

Thicken and serve

  1. Mix lard and flour to a smooth paste; stir into simmering soup.

  2. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened.

  3. Mix in salt and pepper.

  4. Serve with plain boiled potatoes or potato dumplings, if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1121Calories
45 gProtein
43 gFat
136 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 15 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Sauerkrautnot in our table0
Meatnot 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. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Pork shanks
Release meat flavor and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and richness.
Sauerkraut
Provides the sour, tangy acidity that defines the soup's character.
Lard or margarine
Fat that combines with flour to form a roux, thickening the soup smoothly.
Flour
Starch that thickens the simmering broth into a smooth, body-rich soup.
Bacon or smoked sausage
Adds smoky, savory fat and flavor to the broth as it simmers.

The step that matters

Stirring the lard and flour paste into the simmering soup. Flour clumps if added dry or unblended. Mixing it into a smooth paste with fat first lets starch granules separate and disperse, and continuous stirring while heating lets the starch swell evenly for a smooth, thickened soup.

Swap the raisin

The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, parsley, meat, flour, pepper):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, parsley, meat, flour, pepper. 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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