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Herring Soup

A soup made with herring, carrots, potatoes, onions, milk, butter, dill or parsley, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 321 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Herring Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the herring by washing and rubbing with salt.

Make the soup

  1. Bring water to a boil and add the carrots and spices.

  2. Half boil the carrots, then add the potatoes.

  3. Add the half-cut herrings and milk.

  4. Cook until the soup becomes a little thick.

Serve

  1. Serve with finely chopped parsley or dill and butter.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

499Calories
15 gProtein
20 gFat
69 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Herringnot 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. Carrot + dilltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together321 recipes

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

  2. Potato + dilltop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together423 recipes

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

  3. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Pepper + dilltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,630 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

Herring
Provides the main fish flavor and protein that give the soup its body.
Milk
Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, and helps the soup thicken as it cooks.
Potatoes
Release starch as they cook, adding body and thickening the broth.
Carrot
Adds natural sweetness and color to the broth.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when stirred into the finished soup.

The step that matters

Add the milk and herring, then cook gently until slightly thick. Milk can curdle or scorch if the soup boils hard, and potato starch thickens gradually. Keeping the heat gentle and stopping once the soup just thickens keeps the texture smooth.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, carrot, onion, pepper, potato, butter, dill):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, carrot, onion, pepper, potato, butter, dill. 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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