Name: Vegetarian Wontons
Ingredients: 1/2 cup mashed firm tofu; 1 green onion, diced; 4 water chestnuts, chopped; 2 tablespoons shredded carrot; 1 bok choy leaf, shredded; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 1/4 teaspoon salt; Pinch of pepper; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 teaspoon granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons minced ginger; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 45 wonton wrappers, or as needed; 3 to 4 cups oil for deep-frying, as needed; Hoisin sauce or soy sauce for dipping, as needed

Why it works: Onion and water chestnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 205 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

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.

Onion + water chestnuttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together205 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tofu + water chestnuttop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together13 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Water chestnut + carrottop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together38 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Firm tofu: Provides the bulk of the filling and a soft, mild body once mashed.
Egg: Binds the filling so it holds together inside the wrapper.
Water chestnuts: Add a crisp, juicy crunch that survives frying.
Wonton wrappers: Form the outer shell that becomes crisp and golden in hot oil.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory flavor to the filling.

The step that matters

Keep the oil between 360 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil that is too cool lets wontons soak up grease and turn heavy, while oil that is too hot browns the wrapper before the filling heats through. Staying in this range gives a crisp, golden shell.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tofu, water chestnut, carrot, egg, pepper, sauce, sugar):

Welsh onionfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tofu, water chestnut, carrot, egg, pepper, sauce, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Tofu	100g firm	76
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Bok Choy	1 cup (70g)	9
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water Chestnut	not in our table	0
Leaf	not in our table	0
Wonton Wrapper	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Vegetarian Wontons