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Soup

Borsch

A beet soup with tomatoes, onions, beef, sugar, lemon juice, and eggs.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Borsch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel beets and cut into slivers with a sharp knife or vegetable grater.

  2. Strain tomatoes, forcing pulp but not seeds through the strainer.

Make the soup

  1. Add water, chopped onion, and cubed meat.

  2. Cook gently for half an hour.

  3. Add lemon juice and salt.

  4. Taste for seasoning and simmer another 30 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Pour hot borsch slowly over well beaten eggs and serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

496Calories
37 gProtein
21 gFat
41 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Beet1/2 cup (85g)35
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
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. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 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

Beets
Provide the main body, earthy flavor and the deep red color of the soup.
Beef stew meat
Adds savory depth and body to the broth during the long gentle cooking.
Stewed tomatoes
Add acidity and pulp that thickens and gives the soup its tangy flavor.
Eggs
Enrich and thicken the hot soup when it is poured over them, giving a richer texture.
Sugar
Balances the acidity of the tomatoes and lemon juice for a rounded sweetness.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and sharpens the beet and tomato notes.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot soup over the eggs. Pour the hot soup slowly while whisking the beaten eggs so they warm gradually. Adding it too fast can cause the eggs to scramble instead of creating a smooth, thickened soup.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, beef, meat, sugar, lemon, egg, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, beef, meat, sugar, lemon, egg, 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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