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Green Beans with Chinese Preserved Radish Stir Fry

I try not to create recipes using strange Asian ingredients that you all might be intimidated in trying, but there are exceptions. No, don't worry, I won't be having you ask for soy sauce duck tong...

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Why it works: Radish and sesame share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 49 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

The recipe

4-6 servings
Prep10 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: soy, 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.

  1. Rinse the preserved radish briefly in cold water to remove excess salt, then drain and squeeze dry.

  2. Heat the cooking oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.

  3. Add the ground chicken and break it up. Cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes until no pink remains and it reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.

  4. Push the chicken to one side, add the garlic and preserved radish to the empty side, and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.

  5. Add the trimmed green beans and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes until bright green and tender-crisp, adding a splash of water if the pan gets dry.

  6. Mix the chicken with the beans, add the soy sauce, and toss for 1 minute to combine.

  7. Remove from heat, drizzle with the sesame oil, toss once more, and serve hot.

By steamykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Radish + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together49 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  2. Chicken + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,839 recipes

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

  3. Green beans + sesametop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together25 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Chicken + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together939 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Garlic + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,999 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (green beans, radish, chicken, sauce, sesame):

  1. Garlicthe original
  2. Gingerabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against green beans, radish, chicken, sauce, sesame. 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).