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Sopa Negra

A Costa Rican black bean soup with eggs, onions, peppers, garlic, cilantro, and chicken broth.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Sopa Negra

Time2½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. If beans are dried, cover with water and soak overnight; if fresh, rinse them.

  2. Drain the beans and add water or chicken broth, salt, and half of the chopped ingredients.

  3. Bring to a boil.

Simmer and finish

  1. Cover the pan and reduce heat to very low simmer until beans are nearly soft (~2½ hours).

  2. Add the rest of the chopped ingredients and vegetable oil, and cook an additional ½ hour.

  3. Add eggs for the final 2-4 minutes (depending on how you like your eggs cooked).

  4. Remove about half the beans and reserve for gallo pinto or to mash and refry.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

531Calories
47 gProtein
23 gFat
33 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 12 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0
Leafnot 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. Coriander + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,474 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Pepper + coriandertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,949 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Beans + coriandertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,261 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Black beans
Provide the main body and starch that thicken the soup as they soften.
Eggs
Cook in the simmering soup to add protein and richness as they set.
Onion
Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it softens in the broth.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows during the long simmer.
Sweet pepper
Adds mild sweetness and fresh vegetable flavor to the soup.

The step that matters

Simmer the beans on very low heat. Beans need long, gentle simmering to soften evenly; a hard boil can break the skins and leave them unevenly cooked or mushy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, chicken, pepper, egg, coriander, onion, garlic):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, chicken, pepper, egg, coriander, onion, 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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