Name: Chinese Tofu with Minced Pork
Ingredients: 3/4 cup ground pork; 1 teaspoon soy sauce; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1/2 teaspoon white sugar; 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 1 dash ground black pepper; 1 dash crushed red pepper flakes; 1 (14 ounce) package tofu, drained; 1 green onion, chopped; 1 tablespoon chopped carrots; 1 chile pepper, chopped

Why it works: Sesame and tofu match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 250 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. 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.

Sesame + tofutop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together250 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sesame + oniontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,192 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sesame + carrottop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together641 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground pork: Provides the savory meat base that cooks into the topping.
Tofu: Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the seasoned pork juices as it heats.
Cornstarch: Thickens the pork mixture slightly so it clings to the tofu instead of running off.

The step that matters

Microwaving the pork topping. Ground pork must reach a fully cooked, opaque state before serving. Microwaves heat unevenly, so the pork can stay cold in spots even after the stated time, and stirring or checking the centre helps ensure it is cooked through.

Swap the carrot

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

Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits better
Spinachfits better
Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sauce, sesame, sugar, pepper, tofu, onion. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Tofu	100g firm	76
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6

Chinese Tofu with Minced Pork