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Soup

Dong Gua Zi Cai Tang

A soup of diced white gourd, shrimps, ginger, wine, salt, sesame oil, laver, and spring onion.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Sesame and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,192 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓

Dong Gua Zi Cai Tang

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel white gourd and remove seeds, cut into large dice.

  2. Soak dry shrimps in hot water for 10 minutes.

Cook the soup

  1. Heat pot with approximately 1 liter of water and diced white gourd over high heat.

  2. Add dry shrimps, ginger and wine, boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.

  3. Add salt and stir well, pour into large bowl, add sesame oil.

  4. Tear laver into small pieces, sprinkle on soup together with chopped spring onion.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

290Calories
25 gProtein
14 gFat
11 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sesame + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,192 recipes

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

  2. Ginger + sesametop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Ginger + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

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

  4. Shrimp + sesametop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together302 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  5. Shrimp + gingertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together721 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

White gourd
Forms the bulk of the soup and turns soft and tender as it simmers.
Dry shrimps
Release savory flavor into the broth during soaking and simmering.
Sesame oil
Adds a nutty aroma at the end, added after cooking so it stays fragrant.

The step that matters

Boiling the gourd and shrimps. Simmering for the full 15 minutes lets the gourd soften fully and the shrimps release their flavor into the broth. Stopping early leaves the gourd firm and the soup thin in taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, ginger, wine, sesame):

  1. Welsh onionfits better
  2. Broccolifits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, ginger, wine, sesame. 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.

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