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 ↓
Bean Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the beans overnight.
Drain the beans in the morning.
Make the soup
Boil the beans with salt pork and water until the beans are thoroughly dissolved.
Add boiling water from the kettle as needed.
Season slightly, strain, and 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beans
- Break down during boiling to give the soup its body and thickness.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savory flavor that carries through the broth.
The step that matters
Boil the beans until thoroughly dissolved. Beans must cook long enough for their starches to swell and their skins to soften. Stopping early leaves the soup thin and grainy, while the beans fully breaking down gives it a smooth, thick body.
“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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