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Okra Soup

A hearty soup made with sliced okra, tomatoes, beef, and optional corn and lima beans.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Okra and lima beans share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 64 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Okra Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Select okra pods that are 2-3 inches long and snap easily.

  2. Slice the okra into very thin pieces, no thicker than ⅛ inch.

  3. Peel and chop the tomatoes.

Make the soup

  1. In a large pot, place the beef and add 2½ gallons of water and salt.

  2. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum.

  3. Add the okra and tomatoes to the pot.

  4. Boil the soup thoroughly to enhance flavor.

  5. If desired, add corn and Lima beans for extra 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Okra + lima beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together64 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Okra + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Corn + lima beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together222 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Okra + corntop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together161 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Okra
Thickens the soup as it cooks, giving it a silky, body-rich texture.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and moisture, giving the broth a fresh, savoury base.
Beef
Contributes meaty flavour and richness to the broth as it simmers.

The step that matters

Skimming off any scum after the boil. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities rising from the meat. Removing it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than gray and muddy.

Swap the lima beans

The recipe marks lima beans as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (okra, tomato, beef, corn):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lima beansthe original
  3. Black-eyed peafits about as well
  4. Lentilsfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against okra, tomato, beef, corn. 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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