Why it works: Beans and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,733 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Bean Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick over the beans, wash, and soak them overnight in cold water.
Scrape the pork clean and cut it into thin slices.
Cook the beans
Drain the beans and put them into a pot with the cold water and bicarbonate of soda.
Cover the pot, heat gradually, and boil gently for 30 minutes, removing the scum as it rises.
Turn off the water and replenish with 6 quarts of fresh boiling water.
Cover and boil slowly for 1.5 hours, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
Finish and serve
When the beans are tender, remove the pork and mash the beans in the pot or press them through a colander.
Return the pork and mashed beans to the pot and complete boiling.
Season lightly 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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Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,000 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 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
- Beans
- Form the body of the soup and thicken it as they break down when mashed.
- Salt pork
- Adds savory fat and salty flavor to the broth as it simmers.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Raises the pot's alkalinity, which softens the beans and speeds their cooking.
The step that matters
Stirring while the beans boil. Beans settle and stick to the bottom of the pot as they simmer for a long time, so they can scorch. Frequent stirring keeps them from burning and gives an even texture.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper):
- Black-eyed peafits about as well
- Beansthe original
- Soybeanfits about as well
- Sesamefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, 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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