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Soup

Tapioca Cream Soup

A light soup made with white stock, tapioca, egg yolks, and cream, thickened to a single-cream consistency.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Tapioca Cream Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Simmer the stock with a little onion, carrot, celery, and herbs.

  2. Strain the stock.

  3. Bring the stock to a boil.

Cook the sago

  1. Sprinkle in the sago.

  2. Stir until it becomes transparent.

Finish and serve

  1. Let the soup cool slightly.

  2. Mix the egg yolks with the cream or milk.

  3. Add the mixture to the soup.

  4. Stir until it thickens to the consistency of single cream.

  5. Mix 1 teaspoon of flour or cornstarch with a little milk.

  6. Add the mixture to the soup with the sago.

  7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  8. Serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Sago or tapioca
Swells and turns clear as it cooks, giving the soup a light, slightly chewy body.
Egg yolks
Thicken the soup as they set gently and add richness.
Stock
Forms the liquid base of the soup and carries its flavour.
Cream or milk
Adds richness and softness, and dilutes the yolks so they blend smoothly.
Flour or cornstarch (in the method)
Adds extra thickening so the soup holds a creamy consistency.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolk mixture. If the soup is too hot when the yolks go in, they can scramble and curdle. Letting it cool slightly first lets the yolks thicken it smoothly.

“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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