Name: Southeast Asian Miso Soup
Ingredients: 1 leek, greens included, roughly chopped; 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into large dice; 1 carrot, peeled and chopped; 1 stalk celery, chopped; 8 dried shiitake mushrooms; 2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 4-inch pieces; 2-inch piece fresh ginger, unpeeled and cut into 6 pieces; 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled and cut in half; 2 jalapeños, cut in half; Handful cilantro stems; Garnishes; 2 oz. rice stick noodles, broken into 3-inch pieces; 2 Tbs. dark red miso4 oz. firm silken tofu, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/3 box); 1 scallion (white and light green parts), thinly sliced; 1 cup watercress (1/2 bunch, heavy stems removed); 2 Tbs. fresh lime juice; 1/4 cup cilantro leaves; 1 small chile, such as Thai bird or serrano, or small jalapeño, cut into very thin rings, optional

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Leek + carrottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,310 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Carrot + gingertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + shiitaketop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together412 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Dried shiitake mushrooms: Adds deep savory umami flavor to the stock as they simmer.
Dark red miso: Adds salty, savory depth and umami to the finished broth.
Rice stick noodles: Provide the starchy body of the soup and soak up its flavor.
Firm silken tofu: Adds soft, creamy texture and protein-rich body to the soup.
Lime juice: Adds brightness and acidity that balances the rich miso broth.

The step that matters

Dissolve the miso in stock before adding it to the pot. Miso clumps when added directly to hot liquid. Thinning it in a little warm stock first lets it disperse evenly and keeps the broth smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (leek, carrot, celery, shiitake, mushroom, ginger, clove):

Shallotfits better
Turnipfits better
Parsnipfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against leek, carrot, celery, shiitake, mushroom, ginger, clove. 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
Tofu	100g firm	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Shiitake	1/2 cup (73g)	34
Miso	1 tbsp (18g)	34
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Lemongrass	1 tbsp (6g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

Southeast Asian Miso Soup