Name: Tempura Green Beans, Yellow Beans and Tofu
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 cup cornstarch; 2 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp ground black pepper; 1 3/4 cups ice water; 1 14 oz (400 gm) package firm tofu; Vegetable oil (for frying); 24 yellow wax beans, trimmed; 24 thin green beans, trimmed

Why it works: Beans and green beans share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 36 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. 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.

Beans + green beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together36 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Tofu + beanstop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ginger + tofutop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together284 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Flour + tofutop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together350 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,800 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

What each ingredient does

All purpose flour: Forms the main structure of the batter that crisps around the vegetables.
Cornstarch: Helps the batter fry up light and crisp rather than heavy.
Ice water: Cold liquid keeps the batter thin and limits gluten development for a crisp coating.
Firm tofu: Provides a sturdy, mild protein that holds its shape during frying.

The step that matters

Heat oil to 375 deg F (180 deg C). Oil that is too cool lets the batter soak up grease and turn soggy, while oil that is too hot browns the coating before the beans cook through. Holding the temperature steady between batches keeps the coating crisp.

Swap the green beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, ginger, pepper, tofu, beans):

Welsh onionfits better
Spinachfits better
Sweet potatofits better
Green beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, ginger, pepper, tofu, beans. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tofu	100g firm	76
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Yellow Wax Bean	not in our table	0

Tempura Green Beans, Yellow Beans and Tofu