Name: Chinese Winter Soup
Ingredients: 4 cup Vegetable Stock; 1 cup Mushrooms, sliced; 1 cup Spinach, washed; 2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce; 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar; 1/2 tsp Pepper; 1 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil; 1/4 tsp Hot Pepper Oil; 1/2 lbs Tofu, diced; 2 tbsp Cornstarch dissolved in; 3 tbsp Water; 2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped; 1 Scallion, 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).
Spinach + sesametop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together203 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Mushroom + spinachtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together778 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Spinach + tofutop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,400 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Vegetable stock: Forms the liquid base of the soup and carries the other flavors.
Cornstarch: Thickens the soup as it heats, giving it a silky body.
Tofu: Adds soft protein-rich body that absorbs the seasoned broth.
Mushrooms: Contribute savory, earthy flavor and a tender texture to the broth.
Sesame oil: Adds a nutty aroma that finishes the soup's flavor.

The step that matters

Adding the cornstarch-water mixture. Cornstarch must be fully dissolved in cold water before it goes into hot liquid, and the soup must be stirred constantly while it cooks. Otherwise the starch clumps instead of thickening the soup evenly.

Swap the spinach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, sauce, cider, vinegar, pepper, sesame, tofu):

Capsicumfits better
Welsh onionfits about as well
Shallotfits about as well
Spinachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, sauce, cider, vinegar, pepper, sesame, tofu. 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
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tofu	100g firm	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Cider	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Chinese Winter Soup