Name: Japanese-Style Seasoning Salt
Yield: Makes 1/2 cup
Ingredients: 1 1/2 toasted, crumbled nori sheets; 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds; finely grated zest of 2 tangerines or lemons; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 1 tablespoon toasted Sichuan peppercorns; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons paprika; 2 teaspoons toasted white or black poppy seeds; large pinch of cayenne pepper

Why it works: Sesame and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,531 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Japanese-Style Seasoning Salt

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1 1/2 toasted, crumbled nori sheets
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
finely grated zest of 2 tangerines or lemons
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon toasted Sichuan peppercorns
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons toasted white or black poppy seeds
large pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

22Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

6 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 7 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Toasted Sesame Seed	not in our table	0
Tangerine	not in our table	0
Poppy Seed	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 epicurious. 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.

Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,531 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Sesame + poppy seedtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together106 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,800 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sesame + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,343 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ginger + poppy seedtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

Swap the tangerine

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sesame, ginger, poppy seed, pepper):

Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Coconutfits better
Tangerinethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sesame, ginger, poppy seed, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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