Name: Chinese Cabbage Soup
Ingredients: 1/2 ounce dried shrimp, optional; 1/2 ounce fen szu (cellophane noodles); 1 Chinese (celery) cabbage, about 2 pounds; 1/2 pound lean pork (loin or shoulder); 2 tablespoons lard or cooking oil; 1 teaspoon soy sauce; 1 thin slice ginger; 3 cups boiling water; 1 tablespoon salt; 1 tablespoon sherry

Why it works: Celery and cabbage are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,840 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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.

Celery + cabbagetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,840 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + gingertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together988 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cabbage + gingertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together545 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Shrimp + porktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together799 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Shrimp + sherrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together243 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork: Provides savory meat flavor and a tender bite after brief stir-frying.
Chinese cabbage: Softens while simmering, adding body, mild sweetness and moisture to the broth.
Fen szu (cellophane noodles): Absorb broth as they soften, giving the soup a silky, slippery texture.
Dried shrimp: Adds concentrated savory, seafood-like depth to the broth.
Lard or cooking oil: Carries heat to the pork and adds fat that helps flavor the stir-fry.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory flavor and a light color to the broth.

The step that matters

Add sherry one minute before serving. Sherry's aromatic compounds are volatile and fade with prolonged heat, so adding it just before serving keeps its fragrance noticeable in the finished soup.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, celery, pork, sauce, ginger, sherry):

Capsicumfits better
Carrotfits better
Tomatofits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, celery, pork, sauce, ginger, sherry. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Chinese Cabbage Soup