Why it works: Peanut and nuts share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Nut 'n' Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup base
Sauté one cup of mushrooms with onion in half the oil until tender.
Blend the sautéed veggies with nut butter, water, soy sauce, and cayenne pepper.
Finish and serve
Heat the remaining oil and sauté whole nuts and remaining one cup of mushrooms until tender.
Add this to the blended mixture and bring just to a boil on low to medium heat.
Simmer on low for 15 minutes until hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Peanut | 1 oz (28g) | 161 |
| Cashew | 1 oz (28g / ~18 nuts) | 157 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Tahini | 1 tbsp (15g) | 89 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
| Mushroom | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Nut | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Peanut + nutstop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together81 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Mushroom + olivetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,571 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Olive + peanuttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,027 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mushrooms
- Soften and release savoury, earthy flavour that gives the soup body.
- Nut butter
- Provides creaminess and thickens the soup when blended into the liquid.
- Soy sauce
- Adds salty, savoury depth that rounds out the nutty flavour.
- Whole raw nuts
- Add bite and texture against the smooth blended base.
The step that matters
Bringing the blended mixture to a boil. Once the nut butter is blended with liquid, rapid or high heat can scorch it on the bottom of the pot and make it taste bitter. Keeping heat low and stirring helps the soup stay smooth and evenly heated.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, onion, olive, butter, peanut, sauce, pepper):
- Sesamefits better
- Beansfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, onion, olive, butter, peanut, sauce, 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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