Name: Beef Negimaki with Broccolini and Rice
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: Vegetable oil cooking spray; 1/4 cup hoisin sauce; 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce; 1 tablespoon rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 pound top round, thinly sliced and cut into 12 strips (6 inches by 2 1/2 inches each); 8 scallions, cut into 3-inch-long pieces; 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots; 1 cup instant brown rice; 1 pound Broccolini; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

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

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.

Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together984 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Rice + carrottop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,477 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sesame + carrottop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together641 recipes

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

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

Flavor stand-ins for the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, rice, vinegar, sesame, pepper, chicken):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Mustardbetter flavor fit
Welsh onionbetter flavor fit
Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, rice, vinegar, sesame, pepper, chicken. 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).

Beef Negimaki with Broccolini and Rice