Name: Roast Pork with Red Cabbage, Apples and Potatoes
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 3 pounds boneless pork loin; 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped; 4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage; 2 pounds small new potatoes peeled and quartered; 3 medium tart green apples peeled cored and thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 cup white wine; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

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 + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,668 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,001 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Apple + white winetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together372 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

Pork loin: Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during slow roasting.
Red cabbage: Softens as it braises, adding bulk and a mild earthy flavour to the pan juices.
New potatoes: Absorb the cooking liquid and become tender, adding starch and body to the dish.
Tart green apples: Break down slightly during cooking, adding acidity and sweetness that balances the pork.
White wine: Adds acidity and liquid that helps braise the vegetables and deglaze the pan.

The step that matters

Browning the pork. Searing the pork on all sides creates browned flavour through the Maillard reaction. Skipping or rushing this step leaves the finished dish pale and less savoury.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, cabbage, potato, sugar, pepper, white wine):

Limefits about as well
Lemonfits about as well
Mangofits about as well
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, cabbage, potato, sugar, pepper, white wine. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Green Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Roast Pork with Red Cabbage, Apples and Potatoes