Name: Udon Noodle Salad
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 medium carrot, grated; 2 tablespoons white miso paste (found at health food stores); 1 clove garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon rice wine (or apple cider) vinegar; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; Vegetable oil cooking spray; 1 tablespoon canola oil; 1/2 pound extra-firm tofu, drained well; 4 scallions, sliced in 2-inch segments; 2 cups broccoli florets; 1 cup frozen, shelled edamame, thawed and rinsed; 1/4 pound shiitake caps, sliced (about 1 cup); 1/4 pound cremini, sliced (about 1 cup); 2 cups nonfat chicken broth; 1/2 pound snap peas; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 package (8 ounces) buckwheat udon noodles, cooked as directed on package and drained

Why it works: Miso and tofu share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 75 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

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.

Miso + tofutop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together75 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Sesame + tofutop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together250 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Miso + sesametop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together121 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Sesame + canola oiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together201 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, miso, garlic, rice wine, sesame, canola oil, tofu):

Gingerfits better
Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, miso, garlic, rice wine, sesame, canola oil, tofu. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Edamame	1/2 cup (78g) shelled	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tofu	100g firm	76
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Miso	1 tbsp (18g)	34
Shiitake	1/2 cup (73g)	34
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Buckwheat	not in our table	0

Udon Noodle Salad