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A Delicious Vegetable Soup

A hearty soup made with roast meat, tomatoes, corn, okra, potatoes, lima beans, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Okra and lima beans share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 64 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

A Delicious Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Add the meat and pour cold water over it in a covered pot.

  2. Bring the water to a boil.

  3. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 to 6 hours, adding boiling water as needed.

Add the vegetables and finish

  1. Add the tomatoes, corn, okra, potatoes, and lima beans to the pot.

  2. Season with salt and pepper, and add the red pepper pod.

  3. Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning.

  4. Skim off any foam and serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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. Okra + lima beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together64 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Tomato + okratop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Corn + lima beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together222 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Corn + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 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

Leftover roast meat
Gives the broth its savory, meaty flavor as it simmers for hours.
Ripe tomatoes
Add acidity and body, helping build the soup's rich, tangy base.
Green corn
Adds natural sweetness and a tender texture to the soup.
Okra
Releases starch as it cooks, helping thicken the broth slightly.
Irish potatoes
Soften during cooking and add starch that gives the soup body.
Lima beans
Contribute creamy texture and earthy flavor to the finished soup.

The step that matters

Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning. Tomatoes, starchy potatoes and okra settle on the bottom of the pot and scorch easily, which can give the whole soup a burnt taste. Regular stirring keeps solids suspended and heat even.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, tomato, corn, okra, potato, pepper):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits about as well
  3. Lentilsfits about as well
  4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, tomato, corn, okra, potato, 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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