Name: Marinated Black Soybean Salad
Ingredients: 1 can (16 oz) black soybeans, drained and rinsed; 1 cup drained canned or cooked corn kernels; 1 cup sliced celery; 1/2 cup each diced sweet red and green peppers; 1/4 cup each sliced green onions and ripe olives; 2 tbsp seeded and diced pickled hot yellow peppers; 1/4 cup each vegetable oil and white wine vinegar; 3/4 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp chili powder; freshly ground pepper to taste

Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 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 + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Soybean + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together90 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Soybean + corntop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together22 recipes

Shared aroma: butanoic acid ethyl ester (sweet).
Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 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

Black soybeans: Provide the main body and firm, meaty texture of the salad.
Corn kernels: Add sweetness and a tender crunch to the salad.
Vegetable oil: Carries fat in the dressing, coating the vegetables and softening their bite.
White wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the salad and balances the oil.
Ripe olives: Contribute savoury richness and a briny, fatty flavour.

The step that matters

Marinate at least 1 hour. Acid and oil need time to penetrate the beans and vegetables; a short rest leaves the dressing sitting on the surface and the flavours uneven.

Swap the soybean

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, celery, pepper, onion, olive, white wine, vinegar):

Beansfits better
Sesamefits better
Black-eyed peafits better
Soybeanthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, celery, pepper, onion, olive, white wine, vinegar. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Soybean	not in our table	0

Marinated Black Soybean Salad