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Spinach Soup with Poached Egg

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Spinach and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,189 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 1
Prep30 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Melt the butter with the sesame oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook gently for 5 minutes until soft.

  2. Add the sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes, along with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes until the sweet potato is tender.

  3. Stir in the spinach and let it wilt for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the first portion of chopped mixed herbs.

  4. Blend the soup until smooth, then stir in the double cream and reheat gently without letting it boil.

  5. Bring a small pan of water to a gentle simmer. Crack in the egg and poach for 3 to 4 minutes until the white is fully set and the centre reaches 160°F (71°C).

  6. Ladle the soup into a bowl, lift the poached egg on top with a slotted spoon, and scatter the remaining chopped herbs over the top.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Spinach + eggtop 12% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Basil + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,351 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Garlic + spinachtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).

  5. Garlic + basiltop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the sweet potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, garlic, chicken, spinach, basil, parsley):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Chivebetter flavor fit
  4. Sweet potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, garlic, chicken, spinach, basil, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).