Why it works: Shrimp and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,193 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: shellfish (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.
Place the frozen shrimp in a colander and run cool water over them for a few minutes until thawed; pat dry with paper towels.
Put the frozen peas in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and rinse under cold water to cool them.
Tear the Boston lettuce leaves into bite-size pieces and arrange them on a serving platter or in shallow bowls.
In a large bowl, toss the shrimp, cooled peas and sliced red onion together.
Add the Ranch dressing and stir until everything is evenly coated.
Spoon the shrimp and pea mixture over the lettuce and serve right away, or chill for 15 minutes first.
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.
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Shrimp + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,193 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Peas + lettucetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Onion + lettucetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,562 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,460 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + ranchtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together212 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, peas, ranch, lettuce):
- Cucumberbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, peas, ranch, lettuce. 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).
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