Cucumber Noodles with Tomato Salsa

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.

1. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together14,076 recipes

   Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

2. Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,405 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

3. Cucumber + garlictop 4% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together2,556 recipes

   Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

4. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together17,451 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

5. Garlic + jalapenotop 5% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together1,700 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Seedless cucumbers

Form the bulk of the dish, with their crisp, watery flesh giving the noodles their body.

Salt

Draws moisture out of the cucumber noodles, softening them slightly and seasoning them.

Plum tomatoes

Provide the juicy base of the salsa, adding acidity and fresh flavor.

White-wine vinegar

Adds acidity that brightens the salsa and balances its sweetness and heat.

Swap the jalapeno

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, plum, tomato, garlic, clove, pepper, wine):

1. Thymefits better
2. Oreganofits better
3. Basilfits better
4. Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, plum, tomato, garlic, clove, pepper, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.