Sour Soup

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.

1. Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,172 recipes

   Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

2. Carrot + corntop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together794 recipes

   Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

3. Cabbage + carrottop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together1,505 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

4. Tofu + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together201 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

5. Mushroom + carrottop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,796 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Corn flour

Thickens the soup into a glossy, lightly body-rich broth when cooked in boiling liquid.

Eggs

Sets into soft shreds when poured into hot soup, adding richness and texture.

Soya sauce

Adds salty, savoury depth and a darker colour to the broth.

Vinegar

Adds sharp acidity that gives the soup its sour flavour.

Minced chicken

Adds savoury meaty flavour and protein that becomes tender in the broth.

Tofu

Adds soft texture and absorbs the flavour of the surrounding broth.

The step that matters

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tofu, mushroom, carrot, chicken, sauce, vinegar, corn):

1. Capsicumfits better
2. Tomatofits better
3. Spinachfits better
4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tofu, mushroom, carrot, chicken, sauce, vinegar, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.