Name: Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients: 5 pounds boneless beef shank; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 2 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into 1/3-inch-thick rounds, each smashed with flat side of knife; 3 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped; 2 cups chopped onions; 2 1/2 tablespoons chili bean paste (Sichuan hot bean paste; dou ban jiang); 3 whole green onions, trimmed, plus 2 cups chopped green onions (for garnish); 1/2 cup (or more) soy sauce (do not use low-sodium); 2 tablespoons (or more) salt; 6 whole star anise; 2 1 1/2-inch cubes Chinese yellow rock sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces) or 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns; 2 large plum tomatoes (about 8 ounces), each cut into 4 wedges; Freshly ground white pepper or black pepper; 1 pound eggless Chinese wheat noodles (Shandong la mian); 3 baby bok choy, each halved lengthwise, bottom 1 1/2 inches trimmed, rinsed (optional garnish); Chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)

Why it works: Clove and star anise match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 206 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 + star anisetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together206 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ginger + star anisetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together229 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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 (beef, ginger, garlic, clove, sauce, star anise, sugar):

Shallotfits better
Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ginger, garlic, clove, sauce, star anise, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Bok Choy	1 cup (70g)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
White Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Star Anise	not in our table	0
Wheat	not in our table	0

Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens