Name: Braised Red Cabbage
Ingredients: 1 red cabbage, head, cored, quartered; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped; 1 onion, chopped; 2 bacon slices, chopped; 1 garlic clove, chopped; 1/2 cup red wine vinegar; 1 cup honey; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper; 1/2 potato, peeled, grated fine

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 ↓

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,001 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cabbage + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together635 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + red winetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together849 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

What each ingredient does

Red cabbage: Forms the bulk of the dish and softens into tender strands as it braises.
Red wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps the cabbage keep its red color.
Honey: Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar.
Bacon: Releases fat and savory flavor into the pan as it cooks.
Potato: Grated finely, its starch thickens the braising liquid as it cooks.

The step that matters

Cook until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Cooking off the liquid concentrates the flavors and gives a glossy, thick texture; stopping too early leaves the cabbage watery, while cooking too long can scorch the honey and sugars on the pan bottom.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, butter, onion, garlic, clove, red wine, vinegar):

Plumfits better
Avocadofits about as well
Applethe original
Limefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, butter, onion, garlic, clove, red wine, vinegar. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Braised Red Cabbage