Name: Cold Oriental Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients: 1 lbs Spaghetti; 1/4 cup Sesame oil; 1/2 cup Natural style creamy peanut; Butter; 1/3 cup Tamari soy sauce; 3 tbsp Sherry; 1 tbsp Water; 1 1/2 tbsp Rice wine vinegar; 1 tbsp Vegetable oil; 1 tbsp Light brown sugar -- firmly; Packed; 3 Cloves garlic -- finely; Minced; 1 tsp Ginger root -- minced; 1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes --; Crushed; 1 Cucumber -- peeled and; Sliced; 4 Scallions -- thinly sliced

Why it works: Sesame and peanut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 349 recipes. Both carry 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. 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 + peanuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together349 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Sherry + rice winetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together161 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Sherry + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together660 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Sesame + rice winetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together244 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).
Sesame + vinegartop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,133 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hydroxy-3-butanone (caramel-like, roast).

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

What each ingredient does

Spaghetti: Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it a firm, chewy bite when cooked al dente.
Sesame oil: Coats the noodles so they stay separate and adds a toasted, nutty aroma.
Creamy peanut butter: Provides the body and rich, nutty flavor of the sauce.
Tamari soy sauce: Supplies salty, savory depth that seasons the sauce.
Rice wine vinegar: Adds acidity that balances the richness of the peanut and sesame.
Light brown sugar: Adds sweetness that rounds out the salty and sour notes of the sauce.

The step that matters

Drain the noodles very well before tossing with oil. Excess water dilutes the sauce and makes it slide off the noodles, so the noodles must be as dry as possible before the oil and sauce are added.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sesame, butter, sauce, sherry, rice wine, vinegar, sugar):

Peanutthe original
Beansfits about as well
Chestnutfits about as well
Almondfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sesame, butter, sauce, sherry, rice wine, vinegar, sugar. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Water	not in our table	0

Cold Oriental Noodles with Peanut Sauce