Name: Radish and Orange Salad
Ingredients: 12 oz radishes, trimmed; 2 tbsp sugar or sugar sub:; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp orange flower water, ?; salt; 2 navel oranges

Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Radish and Orange Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the radishes

Shred radishes in a food processor or grate with a blender.
Allow excess liquid to drain off, add salt to taste, and chill.

Assemble and serve

Peel and slice oranges.
Just before serving, arrange all together and dust with cinnamon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

185Calories

3 gProtein

0 gFat

46 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Orange Flower	1 medium (131g)	62
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Radish + lemontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together174 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Radish + orangetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21 recipes

Shared aroma: acetal (cream, earthy).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Radishes: Provide the main crisp, shredded texture and fresh, peppery bite.
Oranges: Add juicy sweetness, fresh citrus flavour and bright colour to the salad.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the radishes and lemon juice.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavours and balances the sugar.

The step that matters

Drain the shredded radishes after salting. Salt draws water out of shredded radishes. If the excess liquid is not drained off, the salad becomes watery and the crisp texture is lost.

Swap the radish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, orange):

Arrowrootfits better
Sweet potatofits better
Carrotfits better
Radishthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, orange. 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.

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Radish and Orange Salad