Why it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Peas Soup and Pickled Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare and strain the pea soup without adding salt.
Wash and scrape the pickled pork, then add it to the strained soup.
Simmer and serve
Let the soup simmer for about 2 hours after adding the pork.
Once the pork is tender, remove it to a dish and rinse it with hot water.
Serve the soup in a tureen with toast and dried mint on the side.
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.
-
Peas + minttop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Pork + peastop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,589 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pork + minttop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together353 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pickled pork
- Adds salty, savoury flavour and richness to the soup as it simmers.
- Peas soup
- Forms the thick, starchy base of the soup.
The step that matters
Simmering the soup with the pickled pork. Pickled pork is salty and fatty, so the soup is seasoned only after the pork has cooked. Simmering gently for the full time lets the meat become tender and release flavour without boiling hard, which can break up the pea base.
Swap the mint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, peas):
- Mintthe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Gingerfits about as well
- Marjoramfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, peas. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Green Peas229 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipes
Roast Pork82 recipes
Green Peas Soup35 recipes