Name: Vegetable and Tofu Stir-fry
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1/2 medium onion, sliced; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped; 1 (16 ounce) package tofu, drained and cut into cubes; 1/2 cup water; 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar; 2 tablespoons honey; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in; 2 tablespoons water; 1 carrot, peeled and sliced; 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips; 1 cup baby corn, drained and cut into pieces; 1 small head bok choy, chopped; 2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped; 1 1/4 cups bean sprouts; 1 cup bamboo shoots, drained and chopped; 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper; 2 medium green onions, thinly sliced diagonally

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ginger + tofutop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together284 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Garlic + tofutop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together604 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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 (onion, garlic, ginger, tofu, rice wine, vinegar, honey):

Turmericfits better
Corianderfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, ginger, tofu, rice wine, vinegar, honey. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Tofu	100g firm	76
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Bok Choy	1 cup (70g)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Water	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Bamboo Shoots	not in our table	0

Vegetable and Tofu Stir-fry