Why it works: Beans and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,733 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Haeicot Bean Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Drain the beans and boil them in cold water, slightly salted, until tender, about 1.5 hours.
Press the beans through a sieve, discarding the husks.
Finish and serve
Add the bean puree to warm stock, and season with pepper and salt.
Bring to a boil once more and serve with fried bread.
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.
-
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beans + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together332 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 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
- Haricot beans
- Provide the starch and body that thicken the soup when pureed.
- Stock
- Forms the liquid base and carries the savory flavor of the soup.
The step that matters
Pressing the beans through a sieve. Pressing cooked beans breaks down their cell walls and separates the skins, giving a smooth, thick puree. Discarding the husks keeps the soup from tasting gritty.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, bread):
- Beansthe original
- Lima beansfits about as well
- Peasfits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, bread. 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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