Name: Quick Shrimp Chow Mein
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups diagonally sliced celery; 1 cup sliced onion; 1 large green pepper, cut into slivers; 12 ounces peeled, deveined raw shrimp; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 16-ounce can fancy mixed Chinese vegetables; 1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup; 3 tablespoons soy sauce; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/3 cup sliced pimientos; 3 cups hot cooked rice; 1 3-ounce can rice noodles OR chow mein noodles

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).
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,169 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Shrimp: Provides the main protein, turning pink and firm as it cooks.
Cream of chicken soup: Forms a thick, creamy sauce that coats the vegetables and shrimp.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth to the sauce.
Celery: Stays crisp-tender and adds crunch to the dish.
Rice noodles or chow mein noodles: Adds crisp texture as a topping over the saucy filling.

The step that matters

Cook the vegetables and shrimp until just done. Shrimp turns rubbery when overcooked, and vegetables turn soft and dull. Cooking until the vegetables are just tender-crisp and the shrimp is pink keeps both texture and color.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, shrimp, cream, chicken, sauce, rice):

Garlicfits better
Celerythe original
Turmericfits about as well
Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, shrimp, cream, chicken, sauce, rice. 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Soup	not in our table	0

Quick Shrimp Chow Mein