Why it works: Lime and miso work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 42 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: soy (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.
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
Snap off and discard the tough woody ends of the asparagus, then place the spears on a baking sheet.
Drizzle the asparagus with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat and spread into a single layer.
Roast for 12 to 15 minutes, until the spears are tender and lightly browned at the tips.
While the asparagus roasts, whisk the white miso with the 2 tsp water in a small bowl until smooth.
Whisk in the 2 tsp fresh lime juice, then slowly whisk in the 3 tbsp olive oil and remaining 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper until combined.
Arrange the hot asparagus on a serving platter and spoon the miso lime dressing over the top. Serve warm.
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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Lime + misotop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,491 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Olive + asparagustop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,027 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Miso + asparagustop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Pepper + asparagustop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,968 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
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