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Elephant Soup

A soup made with dried meat, beef broth, peanuts, lentils, mushrooms, and cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,326 recipes. Both carry ethyl butyrate, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Elephant Soup

Timetwo hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Wash the biltong or dried meat in hot water, and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

  2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the meat with enough cold water to cover it, and cook over a low heat for twenty to thirty minutes.

Make the soup

  1. Add the mirepoix and beef broth and simmer for two hours.

  2. Add the onions, peanuts, and dal (lentils), mushrooms, and leek. Cook until the dal are completely disintegrated.

  3. Adjust the seasoning.

  4. Add the butter and cream.

  5. Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

468Calories
30 gProtein
32 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Roasted Peanutnot 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 + leektop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,326 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  2. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Onion + peanuttop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,043 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Biltong or dried meat
Provides the main meaty flavor and body of the soup as it simmers.
Dal
Breaks down completely, thickening the soup and giving it a creamy body.
Peanuts
Add roasted, nutty flavor and some thickening body to the soup.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
Cream
Adds richness and smoothness, softening the savory flavors.

The step that matters

Cooking the dal until completely disintegrated. Dal must cook long enough to break down fully; undercooked lentils stay firm and grainy, so the soup never becomes thick and smooth.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, beef, onion, leek, mushroom, butter, pepper):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Sesamefits better
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, beef, onion, leek, mushroom, butter, 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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