Name: Thai Jicama & Red Onion Salad
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 1/2 jicama, peeled; 1/2 small red onion, peeled; 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce; 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar; 2 tsp agave nectar (can substitute sugar); 1 red chili, minced or 1/2 tsp red chile flakes; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Why it works: Jicama and agave share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Thai Jicama & Red Onion Salad

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1/2 jicama, peeled
1/2 small red onion, peeled
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp agave nectar (can substitute sugar)
1 red chili, minced or 1/2 tsp red chile flakes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

181Calories

3 gProtein

1 gFat

41 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Jicama	1 cup (120g)	46
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Agave	1 tsp (7g)	21
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

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

By cookincanuck. 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.

Jicama + agavetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rice + agavetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together40 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Jicama + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Jicama + ricetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (jicama, fish sauce, rice, vinegar, agave, sugar):

Welsh onionfits better
Cucumberfits better
Shallotfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against jicama, fish sauce, rice, vinegar, agave, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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