Skip to main content
Soup

Ham-bone Soup

A hearty soup made with water, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, butter beans, okra, pepper, and a cooked ham bone.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Butter and ham match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,475 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large soup pot, combine the water, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, butter beans, okra, and pepper.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook well.

  3. One hour before serving, add the cooked ham bone to the pot.

  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Butter + hamtop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Tomato + beanstop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,711 recipes

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

  3. Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,211 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + okratop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Potato + corntop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together938 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Ham bone
Adds smoky, savory flavor to the broth as it simmers.
Potatoes
Soften as they cook, adding body and starch that thickens the soup slightly.
Butter beans
Hold their shape while adding creamy texture and substance to the soup.
Tomatoes
Contribute acidity and liquid that builds the broth's flavor.

The step that matters

Adding the ham bone one hour before serving. Simmering the cooked ham bone long enough lets its flavor and fat seep into the broth, but adding it too late leaves the soup tasting thin. Timing it so it simmers for about an hour gives the broth time to absorb its savory flavor without overcooking the vegetables.

Flavor stand-ins for the cabbage

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

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  3. Asparagusbetter flavor fit
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, tomato, corn, butter, beans, okra, pepper. 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).

“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.

You might also like

Illustration of Indian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and SpinachIllustrationIndian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipesIllustration of Cream of Potato SoupIllustrationCream of Potato Soup38 recipesIllustration of Tomato BisqueIllustrationTomato Bisque11 recipesIllustration of Clear Carrot and Bottle Gourd SoupIllustrationClear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipes