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Song Ren Cao Yu Ding

A stir‑fry dish of fish, celery, pine nuts, and spices, finished with sauce and sesame oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 19 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Song Ren Cao Yu Ding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Fry pine nuts in low heat oil until crispy, dish up for use.

  2. Trim the celery, wash and cut into small stalks.

  3. Heat wok with 1 tbsp oil, stir fry celery until cooked, dish up.

  4. Remove seeds of red pepper, chop into fine dice, chop spring onion.

  5. Clean fish and wipe dry, cut into small cubes, marinate with seasoning.

Cook

  1. Parboil fish cubes in high heat, dish up until cooked.

  2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil, stir fry minced ginger and red pepper.

  3. Add fish cubes, celery and wine, stir fry and mix well, then add sauce.

  4. Add chopped spring onion, then pine nuts, stir fry mix it well, dish up.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

807Calories
32 gProtein
66 gFat
20 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 16 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Groupernot in our table0
Saucenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Celery + gingertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together988 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Celery + pinetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together75 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Provides the main protein; cornflour and egg white coat it to keep the cubes tender when cooked.
Pine nuts
Add crunch and a toasted, nutty aroma when fried until crispy.
Celery
Adds a crisp, fresh texture that stays firm after stir frying.
Cornflour
Thickens the sauce and helps the coating on the fish stay smooth.
Egg white
Helps bind the marinade to the fish cubes for a silky texture.

The step that matters

Parboiling the fish cubes. High heat cooks the coated fish quickly so it stays tender; overcooking toughens the protein and makes it dry and rubbery before the final stir fry.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, celery, pine, pepper, ginger, onion, wine):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Walnutfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, celery, pine, pepper, ginger, onion, wine. 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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