Name: Gyuvetch I
Ingredients: 900 g beef , cut in 4–5 cm (2 in ) cubes; Soy sauce; 2 onions , cut in half, then in 5 mm (¼ in) slices; 2 carrots , cut in half or quarters lengthwise, then in 5 mm (¼ in) slices; 2 packs okra; 3 eggplants , cut in 2 cm (1 in) round slices; a few tomatoes , each cut in 3; 1 kg (2 lbs) potatoes , peeled, quartered and cut in 7 mm (⅓ in) thick slices; 12 small sweet red peppers, cut in 5 mm (¼ in) thick rings; 2 hot green peppers; Salad oil; 1 bunch parsley , finely chopped; Salt to taste

Why it works: Okra and eggplant share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 39 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Okra + eggplanttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together39 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Eggplant + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together651 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Okra + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together327 recipes

Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + okratop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together715 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef: Provides the main protein and savory flavor, and browns to build richness in the sauce.
Potatoes: Starch gives the stew body and thickens the pan juices as they cook.
Eggplants: Soak up oil and juices, becoming soft and creamy when cooked.
Onions: Soften and turn sweet as they cook, forming the flavor base of the dish.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that combine with the pan juices into a sauce.

The step that matters

Cook the vegetables only until barely tender. The vegetables keep softening during the long oven bake, so cooking them fully at first leaves them mushy and breaks them down into the sauce.

Swap the eggplant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sauce, onion, carrot, okra, tomato, potato):

Capsicumfits better
Chivefits better
Turnipfits about as well
Eggplantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sauce, onion, carrot, okra, tomato, potato. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Eggplant	1 cup cubed (82g)	35
Okra	1 cup (100g)	33
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Salad	not in our table	0

Gyuvetch I

Gyuvetch I

Ingredients

Directions

Brown and simmer the beef

Prepare the vegetables

Bake and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)