Name: Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry
Ingredients: 1 cup beef broth; 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce; 1/4 cup rice vinegar; 2 tbs sugar; 1 tsp Asian dark sesame oil; 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 4 tsp cornstarch; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 1 pound flank steak, cut against the grain into strips; 4 cups broccoli flowerets; 1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced; 1 small red onion, thinly sliced; 8 oz bag carrot matchsticks; Cooked Brown Rice

Why it works: Sesame and broccoli match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 372 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. 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.

Sesame + broccolitop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together372 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together984 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Rice + broccolitop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together684 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cinnamon + broccolitop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together215 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Flank steak: Provides the main protein; cooking it quickly keeps the strips tender when cut against the grain.
Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it a glossy, clinging texture over the beef and vegetables.
Broccoli flowerets: Adds bulk and texture; covering the pan steams them until tender.
Teriyaki sauce: Supplies salty-sweet savoury flavour that forms the base of the glaze.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the sauce brown slightly as it reduces.
Rice vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Cook the sauce until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens once the sauce reaches a simmer and is cooked for a short time. Stopping early leaves it thin and watery, so the sauce will not cling to the beef.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sauce, rice, vinegar, sugar, sesame, broccoli):

Garlicfits better
Gingerfits about as well
Turmericfits about as well
Cinnamonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sauce, rice, vinegar, sugar, sesame, broccoli. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Sauce	not in our table	0

Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry