Why it works: Black-eyed pea and cumin work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 24 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
6 pattiesIngredients
Directions
Prepare the peas and corn
Mash black-eyed peas coarsely with a potato masher or electric mixer. Set aside.
If using frozen corn, put kernels in a food processor and purée. Set aside.
For cob corn, use a sharp knife to slice halfway through the kernels, then slice kernels off the cob into a bowl.
Use the back of the knife to scrape off remaining corn.
Make the corn mixture
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet, and add garlic, jalapeños, and cumin.
Sauté for 2 minutes.
Add corn.
Reduce heat to low.
Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Form and cook the patties
Mix mashed peas, corn mixture, scallions, cilantro, and salt.
Cool the mixture.
Form into 6 patties about 1 inch thick and 4 inches round in diameter.
Heat a large nonstick griddle over medium heat, and brush with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
Cook patties 5 minutes per side, or until golden, crisp, and heated through.
Serve hot.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Black-eyed pea + cumintop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together24 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Garlic + cumintop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Corn + cumintop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together798 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Black-eyed pea + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together105 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Canola oil + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together979 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Black-eyed peas
- Mashed to form the bulk and body of the patties.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness and moisture that keeps the patties tender.
- Canola oil
- Fries the aromatics and browns the outside of the patties on the griddle.
- Jalapeños
- Provide heat and aroma that carry through the patties.
- Scallions
- Add mild onion flavor and fresh aroma to the mixture.
The step that matters
Cook the patties until golden and crisp. Cooking over medium heat on an oiled nonstick surface lets the outside brown and crisp before the soft mashed-pea interior dries out or breaks apart. Cooling the mixture first helps the patties hold their shape when formed and turned.
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (black-eyed pea, corn, canola oil, cumin):
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Jalapenobetter flavor fit
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against black-eyed pea, corn, canola oil, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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