Why it works: Rice and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,025 recipes mention both. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, peanut, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Whisk 6 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sriracha, and 2 cloves minced garlic in a bowl. Season the pork chops with salt, coat them in half the sauce, and refrigerate for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest.
Grill the skewered pineapple spears over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side until lightly charred. Cool slightly, then chop into small pieces.
Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pork chops 4 to 5 minutes per side, brushing with the reserved sauce, until the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C). Rest 3 minutes.
In the same skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook 5 minutes until softened, then add the remaining garlic clove and cook 30 seconds.
Push the onion aside, pour in the beaten eggs, and scramble until set. Break them into pieces and stir them into the onion.
Add the cooked rice, frozen peas, drained pimentos, and 2 Tbsp additional soy sauce. Stir-fry 5 minutes until hot, then fold in the pineapple and season with salt to taste.
Serve the pork chops alongside the pineapple fried rice.
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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Rice + porktop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,025 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Pork + oniontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together18,199 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Rice + oniontop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,990 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pork + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,848 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Rice + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,587 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, rice, pork, butter, peanut oil, sauce, rice wine):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Tomatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, rice, pork, butter, peanut oil, sauce, rice wine. 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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