Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,030 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
20 servingsIngredients
Contains: egg, soy, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: egg
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up, for about 5 minutes until no pink remains and it reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Stir in the chopped ginger and minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the shredded bok choy, shredded carrots and chopped green onions and cook for 3 minutes until wilted. Stir in the soy sauce.
Spread the filling on a plate and let it cool for 10 minutes so it does not tear the wrappers.
Place a wonton wrapper on a work surface with a corner pointing toward you. Spoon a small amount of filling near the lower corner, then fold the corner over the filling.
Brush the edges with a splash of water, fold in the side corners, and roll up tightly to seal. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling, keeping the finished rolls covered with a damp towel.
Heat the frying oil in a deep, heavy pot to 350°F (175°C). Fry the egg rolls in small batches for 2 to 3 minutes, turning, until golden brown and crisp.
Lift the egg rolls out with a slotted spoon and drain them on a wire rack or paper towels before serving.
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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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Ginger + carrottop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sesame + wonton wrappertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together54 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Ginger + sesametop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,531 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Sesame + oniontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,192 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, ginger, garlic, sesame, onion, sauce, wonton wrapper):
- Welsh onionbetter flavor fit
- Broccoliabout as good a flavor fit
- Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, ginger, garlic, sesame, onion, sauce, wonton wrapper. 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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