Name: Panang Vegetable Curry
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 2 large shallots, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons; 2 tablespoons chopped peeled ginger; 2 1/3 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk, divided; 1 1/2 cups (or more) vegetable stock; 8 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves; 2 dried chiles de árbol; 1 4-pound kabocha squash, cut into 8 wedges, seeded, or 2 acorn squash, quartered, seeded; 1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds), cored, broken into 1"–2" florets; 1 pound carrots, peeled, cut on a diagonal into 1/2" slices; 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2" squares; 1/4 cup liquid tamarind concentrate or 2 tablespoons tamarind paste mixed with 2 tablespoons water; 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, divided; 2 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam); 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice; 1 12-ounce package firm tofu, drained, patted dry, cut into 1" cubes; Kosher salt; 1/4 cup chopped peanuts; Steamed jasmine rice

Why it works: Ginger and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,621 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Ginger + limetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,621 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Coconut + limetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together934 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ginger + carrottop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Shallot + cauliflowertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Shallot + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together258 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the acorn

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, ginger, coconut, milk, lime, cauliflower, carrot):

Cashew nutfits better
Lentilsfits better
Beansfits better
Acornthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, ginger, coconut, milk, lime, cauliflower, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Tofu	100g firm	76
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Kaffir Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Tamarind	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Panang Vegetable Curry