Why it works: Rice and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,433 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the steak into small pieces.
Remove the seeds and part of the veins from the peppers.
Cover the peppers with ½ pint boiling water and let them stand until cool.
Cook the meat
In a frying pan, heat the hot fat, then add the steak, 1 cup boiling water, and rice.
Cover closely and cook slowly until the steak is tender.
Make the sauce and serve
Squeeze the peppers until the water is thick and red; if not thick enough, add a little flour and bring to a boil.
Season the sauce with salt and onions if desired.
Pour the sauce over the meat and serve.
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.
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Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Round steak
- Provides the meat that becomes tender during slow, covered cooking.
- Red peppers
- Steeped in water, they colour and flavour the liquid that forms the sauce.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the pepper liquid into a sauce when it is not thick enough.
- Rice
- Adds body to the cooking liquid alongside the steak.
The step that matters
Cook the steak slowly, covered, until tender. Tough cuts like round steak need low, moist, prolonged heat to break down connective tissue. Rushing with high heat or uncovered cooking leaves the meat dry and chewy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, 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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