Why it works: Shallot and mung bean share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 11 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: custard
Directions
Prepare
Put the shallot slices and oil into a small frying pan over medium-low heat.
Stir the shallot slices until they are golden brown and crispy.
Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13‑inch baking pan.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Soften the palm or coconut sugar in a pan over medium heat.
Make the custard
Blend the mung beans, eggs, both sugars, coconut cream, salt, and any leftover oil from the shallots together until smooth.
Let the custard mixture sit for 5 minutes until it becomes less frothy.
Pour the custard mixture into the pan.
Bake and serve
Place the pan on a rack positioned in the upper third of the oven.
Bake at 180°C for 35–45 minutes or until the center is slightly firm and the top is golden brown.
Put some of the fried shallots over the top of the custard.
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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Shallot + mung beantop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Coconut + mung beantop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together18 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Coconut + chickentop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together805 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Sugar + creamtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,437 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Coconut + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,214 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mung beans
- Cooked and blended, they give the custard its body and creamy, thick texture.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the custard structure and a firm, sliceable texture.
- Coconut cream
- Adds fat and richness, making the custard smooth and creamy.
- Coconut or palm sugar
- Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth of flavour, and helps browning on top.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the custard brown at the surface.
The step that matters
Bake until the center is just firm. Eggs set as they heat, so pulling the custard too early leaves it runny, while overbaking makes it dense, rubbery and prone to cracking.
Flavor stand-ins for the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coconut, mung bean, chicken, sugar, cream):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Spinachbetter flavor fit
- Shallotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against coconut, mung bean, chicken, sugar, cream. 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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