Name: Hawaiian-style Rice Salad
Ingredients: 10 ounces cooked ham, cut into thin strips (2 cups); 3 cups cooked rice, cooled; 1 16-ounce can sliced peaches, drained; 1 1/2 cups sliced celery; 1/2 cup chutney, chopped; 1 teaspoon curry powder; 1 teaspoon seasoned pepper; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

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).
Peach + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rice + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,456 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,169 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Rice + peachtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together171 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the salad and absorbs some of the dressing's moisture.
Sour cream: Adds creaminess and tang that moisten the rice and bind the salad.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and richness, helping coat the rice and ham evenly.
Sliced peaches: Contribute sweetness and juiciness that balance the curry and chutney.
Chutney: Adds sweet-sour fruitiness that complements the curry powder.
Cooked ham: Provides savory, salty flavour and substance to the salad.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, rice, celery, pepper, cream, almond):

Lemonfits better
Limefits better
Coconutfits better
Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, rice, celery, pepper, cream, almond. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Peach	1 medium (150g)	59
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6

Hawaiian-style Rice Salad