Name: Green Pepper Steak and Rice
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into strips 1/4-inch thick; 1 tablespoon paprika; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 2 green peppers, cut into strips; 2 large tomatoes, chopped; 1 cup sliced green onions; 1 cup beef broth; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 3 cups hot cooked rice

Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sirloin steak: Provides the main meat, which browns in the pan and becomes tender as it simmers.
Cornstarch: Thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce as it heats.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that help build the sauce during simmering.
Green peppers: Add crisp-tender texture and fresh, slightly bitter flavor.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth to the sauce.
Beef broth: Adds savory liquid that moistens the steak and forms the sauce base.

The step that matters

Brown the steak in butter over medium-high heat. Browning relies on the Maillard reaction, which needs a hot, fairly dry surface. Crowding the pan or stirring too early traps moisture, so the meat steams grey instead of browning and loses flavor.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, butter, pepper, tomato, onion, beef, sauce):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, butter, pepper, tomato, onion, beef, 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4

Green Pepper Steak and Rice