Why it works: Tomato and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,798 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Soip
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Secure a good-sized soup bone and place it in one gallon of cold water with a teaspoonful of salt.
Add more water later if necessary.
Skim the surface as needed.
While boiling, keep the pot well covered and boil slowly for four or five hours.
Add vegetables and seasoning
One hour before serving, add one can of tomatoes (or eight good-sized ripe tomatoes), two or three small potatoes sliced thin, one teaspoonful of black pepper, and one tablespoonful of salt.
Make and add the noodles
Beat one egg and add enough flour to make a very stiff mixture.
Roll the mixture very thin and let it dry for an hour.
Cut the dried dough into thin strips and drop them into the soup fifteen minutes before serving.
Mix one tablespoonful of flour in a little cold water and add it to the soup just before removing from the fire.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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.
-
Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,798 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
What each ingredient does
- Eggs (in the method)
- Binds the flour into a stiff dough that holds its shape when rolled and cut.
- Flour (in the method)
- Forms the dough for the noodles and, mixed with cold water, thickens the soup.
- Potatoes
- Soften during simmering and add body and starch to the broth.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity and fresh flavour that brightens the long-simmered broth.
The step that matters
Adding the flour and water slurry. Flour must be whisked into cold water first so it disperses without lumps; added directly to hot liquid it clumps and thickens unevenly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato. 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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