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Cao Lầu

A Vietnamese noodle dish with pork, rice noodles, bean sprouts, greens, and a spicy sauce.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and chicken match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Cao Lầu

3–4

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pork

  1. Heat oil and paprika in a pan.

  2. Add pork, smashed garlic, soy sauce, chicken stock powder, and spices, then fry for 3 minutes.

  3. Add 1 tbsp water and fry for a further 2 minutes.

  4. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Cook the noodles and sprouts

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add sprouts, and cook for 1–2 minutes until soft.

  2. Remove sprouts, add noodles, and cook noodles for 2 minutes.

Assemble and serve

  1. Put noodles in a bowl on top of lettuce and greens. Add pork mixture, chopped spring onions, croûtons, and chiles.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

854Calories
66 gProtein
32 gFat
72 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Lettuce1 cup shredded (36g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Beannot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Rice + turmerictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,941 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Clove + turmerictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,876 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,769 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  5. Garlic + turmerictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,363 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

Pork
Provides the savoury, browned meat base that the seasoned pork mixture is built around.
Rice noodles
Form the chewy, soft body of the bowl and soak up the seasoned pork juices.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as it fries in the oil.
Soy sauce
Adds salty, savoury depth and helps brown the pork through its sugars and amino acids.
Bean sprouts
Contribute crisp-tender texture and fresh moisture to the bowl.

The step that matters

Frying the pork with the water addition. Frying the pork until browned builds flavour, while adding the small amount of water near the end helps it finish tender without drying or scorching in the pan.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, rice, garlic, sauce, sugar, chicken, turmeric):

  1. Gingerfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, rice, garlic, sauce, sugar, chicken, turmeric. 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.

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