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Bulgarian Meatball Soup

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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Bulgarian Meatball Soup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine beef, rice, paprika, and savory.

  2. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix lightly but thoroughly.

  3. Form mixture into 1- inch (2.5 cm ) balls, then roll in flour.

  4. Combine water, bouillon cubes, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, green onions, green pepper, carrots, and tomatoes in large pot. Cover, bring to boil , reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

  5. Add meatballs, cover, and bring to boil again. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

  6. Add chiles and simmer, covered, 40 minutes or until rice is cooked.

  7. Add parsley during last 5 minutes of cooking time. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

  8. Just before serving, beat egg with lemon juice. Stir 1 to 2 tablespoons hot soup into egg mixture, then stir egg mixture into soup.

  9. Heat gently, stirring, until soup is thickened slightly, but do not allow to boil.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

675Calories
41 gProtein
22 gFat
78 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Savorynot in our table0
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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,606 recipes

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

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, rice, pepper, carrot, tomato, parsley, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, rice, pepper, carrot, tomato, parsley, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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