Why it works: Coriander and sambal work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 42 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
serves 2Ingredients
Contains: egg, wheat, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Stir-fry
Set a wok or a large pan over a high heat.
Once hot, add the oil and then the onion, and cook for about a minute, to soften a bit.
Add the tofu and french beans, and cook for two to three minutes, so the tofu takes on a bit of colour. Stir gently as you cook, trying not to break up the tofu.
Next, add the choi sum. When it wilts, add the noodles and carefully spread them in the wok using tongs or large chopsticks.
You want the noodles to get a lot of heat, almost to fry. Mixing gently, cook the noodles for about two minutes.
Now add the spices, sambal oelek, soy sauces, water and beansprouts, and toss carefully. Cook for about a minute, or until the noodles are semi-soft.
Serve
When done, top with lettuce, transfer to two serving bowls and sprinkle with some crisp shallots.
Serve at once, with lemon wedges and a small bowl of extra sambal oelek on the side.
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.
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Coriander + sambaltop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,866 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Beans + cumintop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,188 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Tofu + beanstop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together122 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Beans + coriandertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,261 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Firm tofu
- Browns lightly on the hot wok surface and holds its shape while absorbing the sauce.
- Fresh egg noodles
- Form the bulk of the dish and take on colour and flavour from the high heat and soy sauces.
- Soy sauces
- Add savoury depth and colour to the noodles as they cook in the wok.
- Onion
- Softens in the hot oil to add a sweet, aromatic base to the stir-fry.
- Choi sum
- Wilts quickly in the hot wok, adding green leafy texture and fresh bitterness.
The step that matters
Frying the noodles on high heat. Spreading the noodles and leaving them undisturbed over high heat lets them brown slightly and fry, while stirring too early makes them steam and break up. Too little heat leaves them soggy and pale.
Flavor stand-ins for the sambal
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, tofu, beans, egg, coriander, cumin, sauce):
- Turmericbetter flavor fit
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Sambalthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, tofu, beans, egg, coriander, cumin, sauce. 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.
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