Name: Cabbage Salad with Baked Tofu and Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette
Ingredients: Cabbage Salad; 3/4 lb. napa or green cabbage, shredded (about 6 loosely packed cups); 1 cup grated carrot; 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallion greens; 8 oz. baked tofu, diced; 1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts; Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette; 2 Tbs. canola oil; 1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil; 1 1/2 to 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 tsp. Japanese soy sauce, or more to taste

Why it works: Peanut and sesame 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.

Peanut + sesametop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together349 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Tofu + sesametop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together250 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Canola oil + sesametop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together201 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Tofu + peanuttop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,505 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

Cabbage: Forms the crisp, bulky body of the salad.
Tofu: Adds protein-rich, chewy bulk that soaks up some of the dressing.
Canola oil: Carries the flavor of the vinaigrette and coats the vegetables.
Toasted sesame oil: Adds nutty aroma that defines the dressing's flavor.
Lemon juice: Provides acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oils.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth to the dressing.

The step that matters

Shake the vinaigrette until fully blended. Oil and lemon juice separate on their own. Shaking vigorously breaks the oil into tiny droplets suspended in the acid, so the dressing coats the cabbage evenly instead of pooling.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, carrot, tofu, peanut, canola oil, sesame, sauce):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Coconutfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, carrot, tofu, peanut, canola oil, sesame, 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
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tofu	100g firm	76
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Green Cabbage	1 cup shredded (89g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Salad	not in our table	0
Roasted Peanut	not in our table	0

Cabbage Salad with Baked Tofu and Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette