Why it works: Sesame and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,192 recipes mention both. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, shellfish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Wash and soak dry shrimps in warm water, then chop the spring onion.
Remove the seeds from the tomato and chop it into small pieces.
Boil the green bean sprouts with ½ tablespoon of salt, then set aside.
Cook the egg
Whisk the eggs with ½ tablespoon of salt and chicken stock.
Add the chopped tomato, dry shrimps, and green bean sprouts to the eggs, and mix well.
Heat a wok with 2 tablespoons of oil, then fry the egg mixture until golden, and transfer to a dish.
Serve
Sprinkle sesame and chopped spring onion on top, and serve.
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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Sesame + oniontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,192 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Tomato + chickentop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,027 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Chicken + oniontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,808 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Chicken + sesametop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together939 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Shrimp + chickentop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together957 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set when fried, forming the soft, golden structure of the dish.
- Dry shrimps
- Add concentrated savoury flavour and a chewy texture to the egg.
- Green bean sprouts
- Add a crisp, juicy texture that contrasts with the soft egg.
- Red tomato
- Adds moisture, mild acidity and sweetness to the egg mixture.
- Chicken stock
- Adds savoury depth and moisture to the whisked egg.
The step that matters
Frying the egg mixture until golden. Eggs set quickly in hot oil and turn tough and dry if overcooked. Frying over steady heat until just set and golden keeps the omelette tender and moist inside.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, shrimp, chicken, sesame, onion):
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Asparagusbetter flavor fit
- Welsh onionbetter flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, shrimp, chicken, sesame, 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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