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Ochra Soup

A hearty soup made with beef, ham, tomatoes, okra, and lima beans, simmered in water and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Ochra Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Take a large slice of ham (cold boiled ham is best) and two pounds of lean fresh beef; cut all the meat into small pieces.

  2. Add a quarter of a pound of butter slightly melted.

  3. Add twelve large tomatoes, peeled and cut small.

  4. Add five dozen okra, cut into slices not thicker than a cent.

  5. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

  6. Put all these ingredients into a pot; cover them with boiling water, and let them stew slowly for an hour.

Make the soup

  1. Add three quarts of hot water, and increase the heat to bring the soup to a boil.

  2. Skim the soup well, and stir it frequently with a wooden or silver spoon.

  3. Boil until the tomatoes are all broken down and the okra is entirely dissolved.

  4. Strain the soup.

Serve

  1. Boil a pint of shelled lima beans separately, then add them to the soup just before serving.

  2. Serve with toasted bread cut into dice, added after the soup comes out of the pot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

714Calories
61 gProtein
41 gFat
22 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Lima Bean1/2 cup (85g) cooked108
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
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.

By Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Butter + lima beanstop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together414 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Beef + lima beanstop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together82 recipes

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

  4. Lima beans + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together468 recipes

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

  5. Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,729 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean fresh beef
Provides rich meaty flavour and body to the broth as it stews.
Cold boiled ham
Adds smoky, salty flavour that seasons the whole pot.
Okra (in the method)
Its sliced pods break down during boiling and thicken the soup.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Break down into the broth, adding acidity and body to the soup.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the soup a smooth mouthfeel.
Lima beans
Add starchy body and a mild, buttery texture to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Boil until the okra dissolves. Okra thickens the soup only when its mucilage is fully released by long, steady simmering. Stopping early leaves slimy pieces and a thin broth, while boiling too hard can scorch the bottom of the pot.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, butter, pepper):

  1. Beansfits about as well
  2. Lima beansthe original
  3. Peasfits about as well
  4. Black-eyed peafits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, butter, pepper. 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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