Egg Soup

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. Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

2. Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together44,316 recipes

   Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

4. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together6,432 recipes

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

5. Meat + lemontop 28% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together2,817 recipes

   Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs

Their proteins set in the hot broth, forming tender pieces that thicken the soup slightly.

Lemon juice

Adds acidity, giving the soup its sour flavor.

Sugar

Adds sweetness that balances the sourness of the lemon.

Meat with bones

Bones and meat release flavor and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and savory depth.

The step that matters

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, egg, sugar):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Raisinfits better
3. Lemonthe original
4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.