Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,030 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
12 kebabsIngredients
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.
Soak the 12 bamboo skewers in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes so they do not burn.
In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sesame oil, minced green onions and minced garlic until the sugar dissolves.
Add the thinly sliced short ribs to the marinade, toss to coat, cover, and refrigerate for about 6 hours.
Drain the skewers. Thread the marinated beef slices onto the skewers, folding each slice so the kebabs hold together, dividing evenly to make 12 kebabs.
Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high, about 450°F (232°C), and oil the grates lightly.
Grill the kebabs 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning until browned and the beef reaches 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part. Rest 3 minutes before serving.
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.
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together643 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Sesame + oniontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,192 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Sesame + garlictop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,999 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Sriracha + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together270 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the sriracha
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, sugar, rice, vinegar, sesame, onion, garlic):
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Cuminbetter flavor fit
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Srirachathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, sugar, rice, vinegar, sesame, onion, garlic. 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).
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