Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,030 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the mushrooms
Combine dried mushrooms with boiling water in a small saucepan, bring to a second boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
Set aside.
Cook the vegetables
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add garlic, scallions and carrots, and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Drain and slice shiitake mushrooms, discarding soaking liquid.
Reduce heat to medium, and add shiitake and cremini mushrooms and asparagus to pan.
Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season and finish
Add edamame, soup mix, water, marjoram and thyme.
Mix thoroughly, and stir in mustard and Bragg Liquid Aminos.
Reduce heat to low, and cook 6 minutes, or just until vegetables are tender.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Carrot + marjoramtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together687 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Shiitake + garlictop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together292 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Shiitake + mushroomtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together552 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried shiitake mushrooms
- Rehydrated to give a deep, meaty, savoury flavour and chewy texture.
- Cremini mushrooms
- Add earthy flavour and soft, juicy texture as they release moisture while cooking.
- Asparagus
- Adds crisp-tender texture and fresh, green flavour to the medley.
- Edamame
- Provides protein-rich body and a mild, nutty sweetness that holds its shape.
- Dijon mustard
- Adds sharp acidity and emulsifying body that tightens the savoury sauce.
- Onion soup mix
- Supplies concentrated savoury, onion-like flavour that seasons the whole dish.
The step that matters
Drain and slice the shiitake mushrooms, discarding soaking liquid. The soaking liquid is concentrated and can taste gritty or bitter from grit and earthy compounds, so it should be discarded. Slicing the rehydrated mushrooms also lets them cook evenly with the other vegetables.
Flavor stand-ins for the marjoram
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shiitake, mushroom, olive, garlic, carrot, asparagus, onion):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Parsleybetter flavor fit
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Marjoramthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against shiitake, mushroom, olive, garlic, carrot, asparagus, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
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