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Green Papaya Salad

Mild, crunchy green papaya is not the same as underripe papaya. Look for it at Asian or Mexican groceries for this salad.

By bonappetit · From Open Recipes · 11 ingredients
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Green Papaya Salad

Why it works: Rice and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 984 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Green Papaya Salad

8 Servings

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

354Calories
3 gProtein
28 gFat
25 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Sambalnot in our table0
Papayanot in our table0

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

By bonappetit. 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.

  1. Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together984 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Sesame + shallottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together77 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Rice + shallottop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together284 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Vinegar + shallottop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Vinegar + sesametop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,133 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hydroxy-3-butanone (caramel-like, roast).

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

Swap the sambal

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, rice, vinegar, sauce, sesame, shallot, papaya):

  1. Gingerfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Sambalthe original

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