Name: Strawberry-Pork Salad
Ingredients: 3/4 pound pork tenderloin; 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided; 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper; vegetable cooking spray; 1/2 cup chopped green onions; 1/2 cup chopped walnuts; 3 cups cooked brown rice; 1/3 cup poppy seed dressing; 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced; 2 eggs, beaten; 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Why it works: Walnut and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 430 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. 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.

Walnut + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Walnut + poppy seedtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,214 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + ricetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork tenderloin: Provides the main protein; searing the thin strips gives browned flavor and a tender bite.
Walnuts: Add crunch and a toasty, slightly bitter note that contrasts with the sweet strawberries.
Brown rice: Supplies bulk and a chewy texture that holds the salad together.
Strawberries: Add sweetness, acidity and juiciness; added late so they stay fresh and firm.

The step that matters

Add strawberries just before serving. Strawberries release juice and soften when salted, dressed or chilled for long, which makes the salad watery and dulls their texture. Adding them last keeps them fresh and firm.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, walnut, rice, poppy seed, egg, cottage cheese):

Turmericfits better
Garlicfits better
Celeryfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, walnut, rice, poppy seed, egg, cottage cheese. 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
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Strawberry	1 cup (152g)	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
White Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Poppy Seed	not in our table	0

Strawberry-Pork Salad