Name: Hopping John with Pinto or Great Northern Beans
Ingredients: 1 cup dried beans; 1 cup cooked rice; 2 cups water; Salt; 2 ounces salt pork , diced; Pepper; ¼ cup chopped onion

Why it works: Beans and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,017 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Hopping John with Pinto or Great Northern Beans

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Wash the beans well and soak overnight in water to cover.
In the morning add 2 cups more water and simmer until tender.

Cook and serve

Fry the salt pork until crisp, remove from the fat, and add to the beans.
Brown the onion in the salt pork fat.
Mix all the ingredients, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Continue cooking for 10 minutes.
Serve at once.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

498Calories

33 gProtein

15 gFat

56 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Beans	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	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.

Beans + ricetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,017 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,242 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,214 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Rice + porktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Dried beans: Provide the main body and starchy texture of the dish once simmered until tender.
Salt pork: Adds fat and savory flavor, and its crisped pieces add texture.
Cooked rice: Adds bulk and absorbs flavor from the beans and pork fat.
Onion: Browning in the pork fat builds sweet, savory aroma.