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Pad Thai

"This is a non-spicy, vegetarian version of the traditional Thai cellophane noodle dish. Serve on its own for a quick meal, or with a variety of curries for a more elaborate occasion."

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Pad Thai

Why it works: Rice and peanut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 670 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Pad Thai

4 servings
Prep15 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

714Calories
27 gProtein
38 gFat
70 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tofu100g firm76
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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. Rice + peanuttop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together670 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Garlic + peanuttop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together877 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  3. Tofu + peanuttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Tofu + garlictop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together604 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Rice + tofutop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together220 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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 (rice, tofu, garlic, egg, sauce, sugar, peanut):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, tofu, garlic, egg, sauce, sugar, peanut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.