Why it works: Pork and cider work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 271 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Pat the pork loin chops dry. Season both sides with seasoning salt, black pepper and garlic powder to taste, then sprinkle evenly with the poultry seasoning.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chops and sear about 4 minutes per side until well browned. Transfer the chops to a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium. Pour the dry sherry into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Simmer 2 minutes.
Stir in the frozen apple cider concentrate, undiluted, and the Worcestershire sauce. Break up the concentrate as it melts and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, about 5 minutes.
Return the chops to the skillet and spoon the sauce over them. Cover and simmer over low heat about 20 minutes, turning the chops once, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Check that the thickest part of each chop reads at least 145°F (63°C) on a meat thermometer; cook a few minutes longer if needed. Rest the chops 3 minutes.
Spoon the sauce over the chops and serve.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pork + cidertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together271 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + cidertop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,042 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cider + sherrytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together104 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).
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Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Apple + sherrytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together395 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pork, pepper, sauce, apple, cider, sherry):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Clovebetter flavor fit
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pork, pepper, sauce, apple, cider, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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