Name: Asian Chicken Hot Pot with Sesame and Garlic Dipping Sauces
Yield: Makes 2 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 cup sesame seeds; 1/4 cup water; 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce; 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (not seasoned); 1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil; 1 teaspoon peanut butter; 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled ginger; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1/8 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce; 2 tablespoons water; 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated garlic; 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth; 2 cups water; 1 garlic clove, sliced; 3 thin slices peeled ginger; 1/2 skinless boneless chicken breast (raw), thinly sliced; 1/2 cup cubed firm tofu; 1 ounce rice vermicelli (cooked according to package instructions and plunged into cold water to stop cooking); 1/2 cup sliced stemmed fresh shiitake mushrooms; 1/2 cup fresh enoki mushrooms, cut into 3-inch lengths and spongy base discarded; 2 scallions, sliced; 1 cup snow peas, trimmed; 2 Napa cabbage leaves, quartered; 1 carrot, thinly sliced

Why it works: Sesame and peanut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 349 recipes. Both carry 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓

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.

Sesame + peanuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together349 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Sesame + ricetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together984 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,531 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Rice + peanuttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together670 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Peanut + gingertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together524 recipes

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

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

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sesame, sauce, rice, vinegar, peanut, butter, sugar):

Cinnamonfits about as well
Garlicfits about as well
Gingerthe original
Turmericfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sesame, sauce, rice, vinegar, peanut, butter, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Tofu	100g firm	76
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Shiitake	1/2 cup (73g)	34
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Napa Cabbage	1 cup shredded (89g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Water	not in our table	0

Asian Chicken Hot Pot with Sesame and Garlic Dipping Sauces