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Asparagus Stir-Fry

"This is a great way to serve asparagus. Even people that don't really like asparagus like this!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 213 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep15 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, soy (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.

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, sherry, soy sauce, cider vinegar, cornstarch, sugar, dry mustard and salt until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Set the sauce aside.

  2. Trim the asparagus and cut it into 1 inch [2.5 cm] pieces if not already done.

  3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat until it shimmers, about 1 minute.

  4. Add the asparagus to the hot pan and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until bright green and just tender-crisp.

  5. Give the sauce a quick stir to recombine, then pour it into the pan.

  6. Keep stirring for about 1 minute, until the sauce bubbles and thickens and coats the asparagus.

  7. Remove from the heat and serve right away.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Mustard + asparagustop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together213 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Sherry + cidertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together104 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).

  3. Vinegar + mustardtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Cider + vinegartop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together402 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Chicken + asparagustop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Vinegar and mustard share little aroma chemistry, yet 14,067 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, sherry, sauce, cider, vinegar, sugar, asparagus):

  1. Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Tomatoabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, sherry, sauce, cider, vinegar, sugar, asparagus. 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).