Name: Red Beans and Rice IV
Ingredients: ingredients; 2 each cloves garlic, minced; 1/8 tbsp cayenne; 1/8 tbsp chili powder; 2 cup cooked brown rice; 1 cup diced cooked ham; directions; 1/3 cup diced onion; 1/8 tbsp cumin; 2 tbsp tabasco sauce; 2 cup cooked red beans

Why it works: Cumin and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

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.

Cumin + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,306 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Rice + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,017 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Garlic: Builds aroma as it softens and browns gently in the hot pan.
Onion: Adds sweetness as it softens and caramelizes slightly in the pan.
Cooked brown rice: Soaks up the cooking liquid and gives the dish bulk and a chewy texture.
Cooked red beans: Supply starch that thickens the liquid and gives a creamy body.
Diced cooked ham: Adds savory, smoky flavor and some fat to the pan.

The step that matters

Adding the water or bean liquid. Liquid lets the starch from the beans and rice loosen and blend into a cohesive mixture. Adding too much makes the dish soupy, while too little leaves the rice dry and firm, so add it gradually and keep the heat moderate.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, rice, ham, onion, cumin, sauce, beans):

Turmericfits better
Corianderfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, rice, ham, onion, cumin, sauce, beans. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Sauce	not in our table	0
Red Bean	not in our table	0

Red Beans and Rice IV