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Fritanga

Fritanga is a Bolivian pork stew with onions, tomatoes, herbs, and spices simmered until tender.

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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 ↓

Fritanga

Timetwo hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pork

  1. Cut the pork into small pieces.

  2. In a large pot, heat the two cups of cold water and add the pork. Boil until all the water evaporates.

Make the stew

  1. Remove the pork from the pot. Stir-fry the remaining ingredients in the order listed, using the butter left in the pot. Add the pork back and the four cups of water or broth. Boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for two hours until the pork is tender. Maintain the initial amount of broth; add boiling water if the stew thickens.

  2. Five minutes before serving, add the green onions and remove the pot from the heat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

418Calories
37 gProtein
21 gFat
22 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Mint2 tbsp fresh (3g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Parsley + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Oregano + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork
Provides the meat that becomes tender during long simmering, giving the stew its main body.
White onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, adding savory depth to the stew base.
Tomato
Adds acidity and moisture that help build the body of the sauce.
Garlic
Adds sharp aroma that mellows and becomes savory during cooking.
Eggs
Optional; set as they cook, adding richness and body to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Boiling off the cold water before stir-frying. The pork must release its liquid and then brown in the rendered fat. Skipping the evaporation leaves the meat boiled rather than seared, so the stew tastes flat.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, tomato, parsley, oregano, clove, garlic):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, tomato, parsley, oregano, clove, garlic. 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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