Name: Asian Black Bean Dressing
Ingredients: ¼ cup rice vinegar; 2 shallots, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon chopped gingerroot; 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard; 1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate; ¼ cup fermented black beans, rinsed well; ¾ cup vegetable oil; 1 pinch chili flakes; ½ teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste

Why it works: Shallot and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 859 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. 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.

Shallot + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together859 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mustard + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Rice + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,017 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + beanstop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together147 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Dijon-style mustard: Helps the oil and vinegar bind into a stable emulsion.
Vegetable oil: Forms the body of the dressing and carries its richness and mouthfeel.
Rice vinegar: Provides the acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oil.
Fermented black beans: Adds deep savory, salty flavor that defines the dressing.

The step that matters

Slowly whisk in the oil. Adding oil gradually while whisking breaks it into tiny droplets surrounded by the vinegar and mustard. Pouring it in too fast can cause the dressing to separate instead of staying creamy and emulsified.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, vinegar, shallot, clove, garlic, mustard, beans):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Cherryfits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, vinegar, shallot, clove, garlic, mustard, beans. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3

Asian Black Bean Dressing