Why it works: Asparagus and quinoa share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 21 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
2-4Ingredients
Contains: sesame (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.
Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Trim the woody ends from the asparagus, toss the spears with the olive oil, and grill 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until lightly charred and tender-crisp.
Let the asparagus cool slightly, then cut it into pieces about 2 inches (5 cm) long.
In a bowl, whisk the orange juice, sesame oil, honey and red chili flakes. Add the cooked quinoa and stir until evenly coated.
Wash and dry the spinach, lettuce or Asian greens, and tear any large leaves into bite-sized pieces.
Pour warm water into a shallow dish or pie plate. Dip one rice paper wrapper for 10 to 15 seconds until pliable, then lay it flat on a clean board.
On the lower third of the wrapper, place a small handful of greens, a spoonful of the quinoa mixture, and a few asparagus pieces.
Fold the bottom edge over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll up tightly. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Slice the rolls in half on the diagonal and serve right away.
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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Asparagus + quinoatop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together21 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Spinach + quinoatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together79 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sesame + spinachtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together203 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Asparagus + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together274 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Sesame + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together643 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the spinach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, olive, orange, sesame, honey, quinoa, rice):
- Tomatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
- Spinachthe original
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, olive, orange, sesame, honey, quinoa, rice. 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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