Name: Quick Stir Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: half a Savoy cabbage , cut into 1cm-wide strips; 1 tbsp hot sunflower oil; 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon , cut into strips; handful of pine nuts; 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves; 4cm root ginger , cut in matchsticks; 1 tbsp oil; soy sauce , to taste

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Quick Stir Fry

Serves 2

Prep10 min

Cook10 min

Ingredients

half a Savoy cabbage , cut into 1cm-wide strips
1 tbsp hot sunflower oil
2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon , cut into strips
handful of pine nuts
2 thinly sliced garlic cloves
4cm root ginger , cut in matchsticks
1 tbsp oil
soy sauce , to taste

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

397Calories

9 gProtein

37 gFat

13 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 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
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Savoy Cabbage	1 cup shredded (89g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Sunflower Oil	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.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Sunflower + pinetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together35 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pine + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Sunflower + gingertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together337 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, sunflower, pine, garlic, clove, ginger, sauce):

Cashew nutfits better
Chickpeafits better
Sesamefits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, sunflower, pine, garlic, clove, ginger, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.