Why it works: Sauce and peanut work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 434 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: peanut (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Prepare grill.
Trim fat from steak and thinly slice diagonally across the grain.
Combine teriyaki sauce and 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce in a medium bowl.
Add the steak slices and stir to coat evenly. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Skewer and grill
Thread steak slices in accordion style on skewers. Alternate with green onions and bell pepper.
Reserve the marinate.
Grill skewers until steak is slightly pink in the middle or to desired doneness.
Make the peanut sauce and serve
Combine peanut butter, water, 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce and 2 tablespoons of the reserved marinate in a small saucepan. Heat to medium-high heat and cook until heated through.
Remove steak and vegetables from skewers.
Serve with peanut sauce.
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.
-
Sauce + peanuttop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together434 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Onion + peanuttop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,043 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + oniontop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,463 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,827 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sauce + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,317 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,317 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flank steak
- Provides the lean beef that is sliced thinly and grilled as the main protein.
- Teriyaki sauce
- Its salt and sugar season the steak and help it brown on the grill.
- Peanut butter
- Gives the sauce body, richness and its nutty flavour.
- Red bell pepper
- Adds sweetness and a crisp, juicy texture between the meat pieces.
- Hot pepper sauce
- Adds heat and a sharp, vinegary note to the marinade and sauce.
The step that matters
Grilling the steak. Flank steak is lean and turns tough and dry when overcooked. Cooking it only to slightly pink in the middle keeps the slices tender and juicy.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, pepper, peanut, butter):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, pepper, peanut, butter. 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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.