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Stewed Black Beans

A slow‑cooked bean stew flavored with cumin, chilli, oregano, honey, lime, and sautéed spring onions, coriander, and garlic.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Lime and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,536 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Stewed Black Beans

Time1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Simmer the beans

  1. Place the beans and the whole onion in a large saucepan, cover with 5 cm (2-inches) of water.

  2. Boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, checking the water level every 20 minutes, stirring and topping up as necessary. Do not add any salt.

  3. Add the cumin, chilli powder and oregano, mix well and continue to simmer for a further hour.

  4. Add the honey and lime juice, mix well and simmer for another hour.

Finish the stew

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the spring onions, coriander, and garlic powder and sauté for 4-5 minutes.

  2. Add the onion mixture to the beans together with the salt and soy sauce, mix well and simmer for a further hour.

  3. Adjust the seasoning by adding more salt, lime juice, soy sauce and other spices to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

375Calories
11 gProtein
15 gFat
54 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Coriandernot 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. Lime + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,536 recipes

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

  2. Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

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

  4. Cumin + limetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,216 recipes

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

  5. Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,188 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Black beans
Form the body of the stew, softening slowly during long simmering to give a creamy, tender texture.
Onion
Adds sweetness and a savoury base as it cooks into the broth.
Ground cumin
Provides warm, earthy aroma that defines the stew's flavour.
Honey
Adds sweetness that rounds out the spices and balances the acidity.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the stew.
Soy sauce
Adds savoury depth and umami to the finished stew.

The step that matters

Adding the lime juice. Acid slows the softening of bean skins and flesh, so lime juice added early can leave beans firm. Keeping the simmer long after adding it helps the beans finish tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, cumin, oregano, honey, lime, coriander, garlic):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, cumin, oregano, honey, lime, coriander, garlic. 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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