Name: Layered Tofu Salad
Ingredients: 1 1/2 gallon shredded iceberg lettuce (2 large heads); 3 medium red onions, thinly sliced 1 lb 8 oz; 3 quart bean sprouts (48 oz); 9 medium tomatoes, 1/2 inch cubes 2 lb 14 oz; 3 lb silken tofu, 1/2 inch cubes; 1 lb canned red salmon or light tuna 8 oz; 3 cups watercress, cut in 1-inch pieces optional; warm soy sauce dressing; 1 cup soy sauce; 3/4 cup soybean oil; 1 1/2 cups green onions, minced; 9 clove garlic, mashed; 1 1/2 tsp sugar; 3/4 tsp bottled hot pepper sauce

Why it works: Lettuce and watercress match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 307 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Lettuce + watercresstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together307 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lettuce + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tofutop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together729 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Silken tofu: Adds soft, creamy texture and protein-rich bulk to the salad.
Red salmon or light tuna: Adds savory flavor and meaty texture that contrasts with the soft tofu.
Iceberg lettuce: Forms the crisp, cool base that gives the salad its main body.
Tomatoes: Contributes juiciness and gentle acidity that brightens the salad.
Bean sprouts: Adds crunch and fresh, watery crispness to the layers.

The step that matters

Heat the warm soy sauce dressing just before serving. Warming the dressing briefly keeps the garlic and green onion aroma bright and lets the sugar and soy blend, while overheating or letting it sit can dull the flavor and wilt the crisp lettuce and sprouts it is tossed with.

Swap the soybean

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, onion, tomato, tofu, salmon, watercress, sauce):

Sesamefits better
Beansfits better
Cashew nutfits better
Soybeanthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, onion, tomato, tofu, salmon, watercress, sauce. 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
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Tofu	100g firm	76
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Iceberg Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Bean	not in our table	0
Soybean Oil	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Layered Tofu Salad