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
Simmer the soup
In a large pot, combine the beans and water.
Add the salt pork and boil for three hours.
Strain and thicken
Strain the mixture to remove the solids.
Stir in the flour until well combined.
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).
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Beans + flourtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,080 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pork + flourtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,187 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pork and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,187 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
- Beans
- Break down during long simmering to give the soup body and starchy thickness.
- Salt pork
- Releases fat and savory flavor into the water during the long boil.
- Flour
- Its starch thickens the strained liquid so it becomes a fuller soup.
The step that matters
Stir in the flour until well combined. Flour clumps when it hits hot liquid unless it is fully whisked or stirred in. Lumps are starch that has not dispersed, so the soup thickens unevenly. Mixing until smooth lets each starch granule swell evenly as the soup heats.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, flour):
- Chestnutfits better
- Almondfits about as well
- Lentilsfits about as well
- Beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, flour. 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.
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