Name: Pork Chops and Spanish Rice
Ingredients: 4 pork chops; 1 cup rice (white or brown long cooking); 2 tbsp cooking oil; 1 medium onion, chopped; ¼ cup chopped bell pepper; 3 oz tomato sauce; 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, chopped (optional); season to taste with garlic salt, cayenne and black pepper; enough boiling water to cook rice

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 ↓

Pork Chops and Spanish Rice

Ingredients

4 pork chops
1 cup rice (white or brown long cooking)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup chopped bell pepper
3 oz tomato sauce
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, chopped (optional)
season to taste with garlic salt, cayenne and black pepper
enough boiling water to cook rice

Directions

Prepare the pork

In a heavy skillet, brown seasoned pork chops and set aside.

Make the rice

In a second (or cleaned) skillet, pour the cooking oil, heat on medium heat, and add rice.
Stir rice until it loses its translucency and puffs (not until it turns brown, although a few pieces may be brown).
Stir in onion and peppers, then tomato sauce to which the spices have been added.
Lay pork chops on top of the rice mixture; add boiling water.
Cover and cook until the water has been absorbed and the rice is done.
Add more boiling water if necessary.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

684Calories

35 gProtein

29 gFat

70 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Jalapeno + garlictop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,700 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,065 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 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

Pork chops: Browning first gives them savory flavor and color that carry into the finished dish.
Rice: Toasting until it puffs and loses translucency helps the grains stay separate as they absorb water.
Onion: Softens during cooking and adds sweetness and aroma to the rice.
Tomato sauce: Adds acidity, color and moisture that flavor the rice as it cooks.

The step that matters

Toasting the rice. Stirring rice in oil until it is translucent and puffed, without browning it much, helps the grains stay separate and gives a nutty aroma. Scorching can make it taste bitter.

Swap the jalapeno

The recipe marks jalapeno as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, rice, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce, garlic):

Cuminfits better
Thymefits better
Oreganofits better
Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, rice, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce, 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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Pork Chops and Spanish Rice