Name: Japanese Spring Rolls
Ingredients: 300 g ground pork; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1/4 teaspoon pepper; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 tablespoon sake or dry sherry; 1 egg, beaten; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 300 g finely grated cabbage; 4 spring onions, finely chopped; 20-25 egg roll wraps (I use Blue Dragon brand); 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Why it works: Pepper and cabbage are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Pepper + cabbagetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sake + sesametop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Pork + sesametop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together456 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Sesame + cabbagetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sauce + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground pork: Forms the main filling and provides the savoury meaty body of the rolls.
Egg: Binds the filling so it holds together inside the wrapper.
Cabbage: Adds moisture and bulk to the filling, softening as it rests.
Soy sauce: Seasons the filling with salty, savoury depth.
Egg roll wraps: Form the crisp outer shell that browns when fried.

The step that matters

Frying the rolls. The pan needs enough oil and steady heat so the wrappers brown and crisp on both sides while the pork cooks through. Too little heat leaves the wrappers greasy and pale.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, sauce, pepper, sugar, sake, egg, sesame):

Capsicumfits better
Welsh onionfits better
Spinachfits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sauce, pepper, sugar, sake, egg, sesame. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Egg Roll	1 large egg (50g)	78
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Sake	1 oz (30ml)	39
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6

Japanese Spring Rolls