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Ybor City Black Bean Soup

A hearty soup made with black beans, ham hocks, onions, bell pepper, carrots, garlic, oregano, cumin, and olive oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Ybor City Black Bean Soup

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans and ham

  1. Pick over and rinse the beans. Cover with half the water and set aside to soak.

  2. Place the ham hocks or ham bone in a pressure cooker or in a covered saucepan if you don't have a pressure cooker.

  3. Add the rest of the water and the bay leaf.

Cook the soup

  1. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, or in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until meat is nearly tender.

  2. Remove from heat. Take out the bay leaves.

  3. Skim off the fat, or run broth through a gravy separator. Return the broth to the pan.

  4. Add the beans with the water in which they were soaking.

  5. Add the onions, green pepper, oregano, cumin, garlic and black pepper.

  6. While it is coming to a boil, cut the carrots into 3" long pieces. Slit each one into quarters lengthwise to make skinny three-inch long strips.

  7. Add to beans.

  8. Cap and bring up to pressure. As soon as it is fully pressurized, turn very low and cook for 20 minutes.

  9. In a regular saucepan, bring to a boil. Cover, and simmer until beans are tender.

Puree and finish

  1. Remove the ham to a plate.

  2. Ladle about a third of the beans into a blender or food processor (a hand-held blender works well too) with as little liquid and vegetables as possible. Process until creamy.

  3. Scrape bean puree back into the pan.

  4. Cut the ham from the bones; cut into pieces, including the skin, removing all visible fat. Return the meat to the beans, discarding the bones.

  5. Add salt, vinegar and olive oil. Stir to mix.

  6. Check seasonings. You may add more salt, black pepper, or even hot pepper sauce if a spicier soup is desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

603Calories
38 gProtein
29 gFat
47 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 16 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Beannot in our table0
Meatnot 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. Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Carrot + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together777 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  5. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 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

Black beans
Form the body of the soup and, when partly pureed, thicken it into a creamy texture.
Ham hocks
Release flavor and fat into the cooking liquid, giving the soup its savory, smoky base.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, adding aromatic depth to the broth.
Garlic cloves
Add pungent, aromatic flavor that mellows during long simmering.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and color while holding their shape in the soup.
Apple cider vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, earthy flavor of the beans.

The step that matters

Pureeing a third of the beans. Blending only part of the beans releases starch that thickens the broth while leaving some whole beans for texture. Blending too much makes the soup pasty.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, ham, pepper, carrot, garlic, oregano, cumin):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, ham, pepper, carrot, garlic, oregano, cumin. 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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