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Tien Soan Yu

A Taiwanese dish of coral trout braised in soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar with mushrooms, pork, carrot, and onions.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Sunflower and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 279 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Tien Soan Yu

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the mushrooms in water until softened, then remove and slice.

  2. Dry the fish with absorbent paper until quite dry.

  3. Make two deep slashes in the flesh on both sides.

Fry the fish

  1. Heat the oil in a saucepan until very hot.

  2. Deep fry the fish until golden and crisp on the outside, but not cooked through, for about 3 minutes.

  3. Remove the fish, drain on absorbent paper, and set aside.

Make the sauce and finish

  1. Heat additional oil until very hot in a separate frying pan or wok.

  2. Stir-fry the onion, carrot, pork, and mushrooms for a few minutes.

  3. Add soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water.

  4. Boil the water, then add the fish and cook for another 5 minutes.

  5. Cover the pan so the sauce doesn't evaporate.

  6. Remove the fish when cooked; the flesh should be firm but cooked.

  7. Mix cornflour with a little water and stir through the sauce.

  8. Add the sesame oil to give a shine or glaze to the sauce, and stir through.

  9. Spoon sauce over the fish and garnish with the spring onions.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

617Calories
31 gProtein
42 gFat
31 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 12 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Troutnot in our table0
Sunflower Oilnot 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. Sunflower + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together279 recipes

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

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + porktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

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

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

  5. Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Coral trout
Firm white flesh that holds its shape while frying and simmering in the sauce.
Cornflour
Thickens the sauce so it clings to the fish instead of running off.
Soya sauce
Provides the salty, savoury base that colours and flavours the sauce.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, adding body to the sauce.
Lean pork
Adds savoury meaty flavour to the sauce as it browns with the vegetables.
Chinese vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sugar and salty soy sauce.

The step that matters

Remove the fish when cooked. Overcooking dries and toughens the flesh, while undercooking leaves it opaque and unsafe; the fish should be firm but still moist, so check it closely during the final simmer.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, sunflower, onion, pork, sauce, vinegar, sugar):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, sunflower, onion, pork, sauce, vinegar, sugar. 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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