Lemon grass + Shiitake
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 13 recipes, and they share 202 flavor molecules: the top 3% of all ingredient pairs.
Do lemon grass and shiitake go together?
Yes. 13 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 202 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 3% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
Almost everything shiitake carries, lemon grass has too: 202 of shiitake's 235 flavor molecules also occur in lemon grass. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What each one brings
lemon grass
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 6% for shiitake. It carries 42 molecules shiitake doesn't have.
shiitake
The sulfurous side. Sulfurous notes make up 6% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for lemon grass. It carries 33 molecules lemon grass doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Bamboo shoots: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with lemon grass, top 1% with shiitake.
- Welsh onion: top 1% of pairs with lemon grass, top 1% with shiitake.
- Lime: top 1% of pairs with lemon grass, top 6% with shiitake.
- Shallot: top 1% of pairs with lemon grass, top 1% with shiitake.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with lemon grass and shiitake
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (83% of lemon grass's and 86% of shiitake's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 202 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 42 only in lemon grass and the 33 only in shiitake.
Lemon grass and shiitake questions
Do lemon grass and shiitake go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 13 recipes, and they share 202 flavor molecules: the top 3% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do lemon grass and shiitake taste good together?
Almost everything shiitake carries, lemon grass has too: 202 of shiitake's 235 flavor molecules also occur in lemon grass. Among the shared key aromas are decanal (soap, orange peel) and coumarin (sweet, hay).
What goes with lemon grass and shiitake?
Bamboo shoots is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with lemon grass and top 1% with shiitake. Welsh onion and lime also fit both.
What can you make with lemon grass and shiitake?
Almost always mains: 1 of the 1 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Vegetarian Satays with Asian Pesto.
Can I use shiitake instead of lemon grass?
Fairly well, for flavor. Each carries most of the other's flavor molecules (83% of lemon grass's and 86% of shiitake's are shared). This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Lemon Grass vs Shiitake. https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-grass-vs-shiitake. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_lemon_grass_vs_shiitake_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Lemon Grass vs Shiitake},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/lemon-grass-vs-shiitake},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.