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Singapore Noodles

You’ll find it on every takeout menu in America but it’s actually really easy to make at home! Try my dad’s authentic recipe.

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Why it works: Carrot and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 21,599 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 2
Prep20 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, wheat, soy, shellfish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: noodles

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Soak the rice noodles in hot water until pliable, about 10 minutes, then drain well and set aside.

  2. Toss the shrimp with a little of the Shaoxing wine and salt, then set aside. Stir the curry powder into the soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and remaining wine to make a sauce.

  3. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. If using, add the dried chiles and stir for 20 seconds. If using, add the eggs, scramble until just set, then remove.

  4. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until opaque and reaching 145°F (63°C), about 1 to 2 minutes, then remove.

  5. Add the carrot, red onion and roast pork, ham or Chinese sausage, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

  6. Add the cabbage and scallion and stir-fry for 2 minutes until just wilted.

  7. Add the noodles and sauce and toss over high heat for 2 minutes until evenly coloured and hot.

  8. Return the shrimp and eggs, toss for 1 minute to heat through, and serve immediately.

By tastykitchen. 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. Carrot + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together21,599 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Rice + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,351 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Cabbage + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Cabbage + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,001 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + porktop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together18,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, rice, egg, carrot, onion, pork, wine):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, rice, egg, carrot, onion, pork, wine. 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).