Name: Beef Tongue with Chiles, Corn and Tomato
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 1 beef tongue; 5 fresh green chile peppers; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 white onion , sliced thinly; 4 cloves garlic , minced; 4 small tomatoes , halved and sliced; 2 cans (30 ounces) whole kernel corn , drained; Salt , to taste

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 ↓

Beef Tongue with Chiles, Corn and Tomato

Serves 10

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tongue

Wash the tongue.
Place the tongue in a large pot of water to cover.
Simmer until no longer pink (about 50 minutes per pound).
Remove from water and let rest until cool enough to handle.
Peel skin from the tongue and trim gristle.
Cut into ½‑inch slices.

Roast the peppers

Place whole peppers in a skillet over medium‑high heat.
Roast, turning, until all sides are charred.
Let cool, rub off skins.
Remove stems and seeds.

Cook and serve

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Sauté chili peppers, onion, and garlic until onion is translucent.
Stir in tongue and continue to cook until tongue is brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and cook until limp, 5 minutes.
Pour in corn and heat through, 2 to 5 minutes.
Season with salt.
Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

522Calories

32 gProtein

30 gFat

34 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tongue: Forms the main meat; simmering makes it tender and slicing gives it a firm, meaty bite.
Fresh green chile peppers: Add heat and a fresh, smoky flavor after charring.
White onion: Turns sweet and soft as it cooks, building the base flavor.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that soften into a light sauce.
Whole kernel corn: Adds sweetness and a tender, juicy texture.

The step that matters

Browning the tongue slices. Searing the slices over medium heat builds browned, savory flavors through the Maillard reaction. Crowding the pan or stirring too little makes the slices steam and turn grey instead of browning.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, olive, onion, garlic, tomato, corn):

Cuminfits better
Oreganofits better
Basilfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, olive, onion, garlic, tomato, corn. 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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Beef Tongue with Chiles, Corn and Tomato