Why it works: Miso and rice work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 46 recipes mention both. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: soy, shellfish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Cook the brown basmati rice in a large pan of boiling water for about 25 minutes until tender. Drain well and spread on a tray to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, boil a pan of water, add the mange tout and frozen soy beans, and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
In a bowl, stir together the sweet miso paste, soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar and soft brown sugar until smooth. Add the raw prawns, toss to coat, cover and chill for 10 minutes.
Soak wooden skewers in water for 10 minutes so they don't scorch. Thread the marinated prawns onto the skewers.
Brush the skewers with half the sesame oil. Cook over a hot griddle or grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side until the prawns are opaque and reach 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled rice, mange tout, soy beans, spring onions, coriander and green chilli. Toss with the remaining sesame oil and serve alongside the prawn skewers.
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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Miso + ricetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together46 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Sesame + misotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together121 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Beans + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together942 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Sesame + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together643 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Beans + sesametop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the coriander
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basmati rice, beans, sesame, onion, miso, sauce, rice):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Cuminabout as good a flavor fit
- Corianderthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against basmati rice, beans, sesame, onion, miso, sauce, rice. 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).
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