Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
In a pot, combine the beef and cold water. Cover and boil slowly for 1.5 hours.
Add the soaked tapioca and boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Strain the broth and season with salt and pepper.
Optional additions and serving
Alternatively, you can use rice instead of tapioca.
Strain the broth, add the soaked rice, and boil for 30 minutes.
If desired, add a soft poached egg before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + ricetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,265 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,350 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Beef + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Releases flavor and body into the water as it simmers slowly.
- Tapioca
- Thickens the broth as its starch swells and dissolves during boiling.
- Rice
- Can replace tapioca to thicken the broth as its starch cooks out.
The step that matters
Slow boil of the beef and water. Keeping the heat low and the pot covered extracts flavor gradually. A hard, rapid boil would make the broth cloudy and cook the meat tough.
“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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