Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Tapioca Cream Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
If the stock is not well flavored, simmer it with a little onion, carrot, celery, and herbs, then strain.
Make the soup
Bring the stock to a boil, sprinkle in the sago, and stir until it becomes transparent.
Let the soup cool slightly.
Mix the egg yolks and cream together, then add to the soup and stir until it thickens to the consistency of single cream.
For a thicker soup, mix 1 teaspoon flour or cornflour with a little milk and add it to the soup with the sago.
Season to taste 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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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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
- Sago or tapioca
- Swells and turns transparent as it cooks, thickening the soup.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the soup when stirred in gently without boiling.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky body to the soup.
- White stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavor of the soup.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks and cream. If the soup is too hot when the yolks go in, they can scramble and curdle. Letting it cool slightly first lets the yolks thicken it smoothly.
“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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