Why it works: Beans and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,000 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
String Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clip the ends of the string beans and remove the strings from each side.
Cut the beans into 1-inch pieces.
Cook and serve
Boil the beans in water with the salt pork for several hours, keeping them covered.
When tender, drain the beans and add butter and salt.
Serve hot.
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 + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,000 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Beans + buttertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,799 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- String beans
- Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long simmering.
- Salt pork
- Adds savory fat and flavor to the cooking water as it simmers.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth finish to the drained beans.
The step that matters
Boil the beans until tender. Beans need long, gentle cooking with enough liquid and a lid to soften fully. Stopping early leaves them fibrous, while the covered pot keeps moisture from evaporating so they stay tender rather than dry.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, butter):
- Peanutfits better
- Soybeanfits better
- Lima beansfits about as well
- Beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, butter. 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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