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Ajiaco Bogotano

A Colombian chicken and potato soup with corn, herbs, and garnishes.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 29 ingredients
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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 ↓

Ajiaco Bogotano

Time40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Fry the onion gently in the oil in a large saucepan until tender, without browning. Add the garlic and thyme and fry gently for about 1 more minute.

  2. Raise the heat and add the chicken pieces. Fry until lightly browned.

  3. Add the milk, water, all three types of potato, and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes.

  4. Remove the chicken pieces with a perforated spoon and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, shred into small pieces.

  5. Stir the soup with a wooden spoon to help the potatoes break down and thicken the soup.

  6. Add the sweetcorn and continue cooking over medium heat for another 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sweetcorn is tender.

  7. Add the herbs and shredded chicken, and cook for a final minute.

Prepare the garnishes

  1. While the soup is cooking, prepare all the garnishes.

  2. To make the egg salad, mix all the ingredients and spoon into a small bowl.

  3. To make the hot pepper sauce, mix the ingredients, adding salt and sugar to taste, and place in another small bowl.

  4. Put the capers and cream in separate bowls.

  5. Ladle the soup into deep bowls and encourage everyone to help themselves to the various garnishes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

841Calories
52 gProtein
37 gFat
78 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 21 ingredients. The other 6 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Sunflower Oilnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Sweetcornnot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0
Saladnot in our table0
Saucenot 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. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  4. Garlic + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,517 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Garlic + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,608 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Break down during simmering to thicken the soup broth.
Chicken breasts or thighs
Release flavour into the broth and provide shredded meat for the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and body to the broth as it simmers.
Sweetcorn
Adds sweetness and a tender bite to the finished soup.
Onion
Builds a sweet, savoury base when fried gently in oil.

The step that matters

Stirring the soup to break down the potatoes. Mashing some of the potato releases starch, which thickens the broth into a creamy soup. Stirring too little leaves it thin, while the milk can scorch if left unattended on the base of the pan.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, sunflower, garlic, thyme, chicken, milk, potato):

  1. Rosemaryfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, sunflower, garlic, thyme, chicken, milk, potato. 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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