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Mike Roy's Ham Bone Bean Soup

A hearty navy bean soup with ham bone, onion, celery, garlic, tomato, herbs, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 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 ↓

Mike Roy's Ham Bone Bean Soup

Time2 hours, then another hour

Ingredients

Directions

Soak and parboil

  1. Wash beans, cover with water and let stand overnight.

  2. Drain beans, cover with water again.

  3. Bring to a rolling boil and boil one minute.

  4. Remove from heat and drain.

Simmer the soup

  1. Add the 3 quarts of water to the beans along with the ham bone and simmer 2 hours.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer another hour.

  3. Be careful with salt because of the ham bone.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

470Calories
39 gProtein
16 gFat
46 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Navy Bean1/2 cup (91g) cooked127
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Sweet Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
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. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

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

  5. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Navy beans
Provide the main body and starch that thickens the soup as they cook.
Ham bone
Releases savory flavor and salt into the simmering water.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens in the broth.
Tomato sauce or tomatoes
Adds acidity and body, giving the broth a rounder, brighter flavor.

The step that matters

Be careful with salt. Ham bones are often cured and release salt as they simmer, so the broth can become salty over time. Season only after the long simmer, tasting as you go.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, ham, onion, celery, garlic, tomato, oregano):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, ham, onion, celery, garlic, tomato, oregano. 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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