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Noodle Soup

A hearty beef broth with vegetables and noodles, simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Noodle Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Combine beef, water, onion, celery root, carrots, potato, parsley, tomatoes, and giblets if using in a large pot.

  2. Cover tightly, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for several hours.

  3. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

  4. Strain the soup, add salt, and remove any fat.

Finish and serve

  1. Add noodles and boil for about 5 minutes before serving.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  5. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef (neck)
Long simmering breaks down connective tissue, giving the broth body and tender meat.
Potato
Starch thickens the broth slightly and adds body as it breaks down during simmering.
Tomatoes
Acidity and savory depth brighten the broth and balance the rich beef flavor.
Noodles
Absorb broth and provide starchy, chewy texture in the finished bowl.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum. Foam that rises during the first boil contains coagulated proteins and impurities. Skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, celery, carrot, potato, parsley, tomato):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Turnipfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, carrot, potato, parsley, tomato. 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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