Why it works: Rice and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 984 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Seaweed Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the seaweed
Rinse the seaweed and soak until it has increased 10 times in size, about 5 minutes. Gently squeeze to remove excess water.
Remove any hard bits of seaweed and chop the rest. Put pieces in a bowl.
Dress and serve
Toss with the shallot, soy sauce, vinegar, mirin (or sugar), sesame oil, cayenne, and salt (if necessary). Taste and add seasonings as needed.
Garnish with sesame seeds.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 11 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sesame | 1 tbsp (14g) | 120 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Shallot | 1 tbsp minced (10g) | 7 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Seaweed | not in our table | 0 |
| Wakame | not in our table | 0 |
| Toasted Sesame Seed | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together984 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Shallot + sesametop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together77 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Shallot + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together284 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Shallot + vinegartop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,374 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Seaweed + sesametop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together58 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried seaweed or wakame
- Forms the body of the salad and absorbs the dressing as it rehydrates.
- Soy sauce
- Supplies salty, savory flavor that seasons the seaweed.
- Rice vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the salt.
- Dark sesame oil
- Adds nutty aroma and a fat-based richness to the dressing.
- Mirin
- Adds gentle sweetness that rounds out the soy and vinegar.
The step that matters
Squeeze the seaweed gently after soaking. Rehydrated seaweed holds a lot of water. Squeezing out the excess keeps the dressing from being diluted, so the soy, vinegar and oil cling to the pieces and the seasoning stays concentrated.
Swap the seaweed
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, sauce, rice, vinegar, sugar, sesame):
- Welsh onionfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Seaweedthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, sauce, rice, vinegar, sugar, sesame. 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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