Name: Shrimp Ceviche in Cucumber Cups
Ingredients: 2 English (hothouse) cucumbers, each; about 1 3/4 inches in diameter; 1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined and finely; chopped; Juice of 4 limes; 2 Tbs. minced red onion; 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro; 1 Tbs. snipped fresh chives, plus 32 pieces; fresh chives, each 1 inch long; 2 Tbs. minced red bell pepper; 2 Tbs. minced yellow bell pepper; 2 tsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger; 1 tsp. ground cumin; Cayenne pepper, to taste; 1 tsp. coarse salt; 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper; 2 Tbs. sour cream; Paprika for sprinkling

Why it works: Lime and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 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.

Lime + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,216 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cucumber + chivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together244 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lime + gingertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,621 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,491 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ginger + cumintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,733 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, shrimp, lime, chive, pepper, ginger, cumin):

Welsh onionfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, shrimp, lime, chive, pepper, ginger, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Yellow Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Shrimp Ceviche in Cucumber Cups