Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Deviled Shrimps
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the intestinal vein from the shrimps.
Cook
Melt the butter in a pan.
Add paprika, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon juice (or vinegar), and salt to the melted butter.
When the mixture is hot, add the shrimps cut into pieces.
Cook for 3 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,588 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Sauce + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shrimps
- Provide the main protein, which cooks quickly and turns firm and opaque in the hot sauce.
- Butter
- Carries the spices and gives the sauce a rich, fatty base that coats the shrimp.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Adds savory depth and a tangy, fermented flavor to the sauce.
- Lemon juice or vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and balances the spices.
- Paprika
- Contributes color and a mild sweet-smoky flavor to the sauce.
The step that matters
Cook for 3 minutes. Shrimp turn firm and opaque quickly, and overcooking makes them tough and rubbery, so the timing needs watching once the shrimp are in the hot sauce.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, butter, parsley, sauce, lemon):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Okrafits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, butter, parsley, sauce, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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