Name: Tuna Burgers with Ginger-Mustard Mayonnaise
Ingredients: 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice; 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil; 1 1/2 tsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger; 1 Tbs. whole-grain mustard; 1 garlic clove, minced; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 6 good-quality hamburger rolls, split; 2 lb. tuna fillets, about 3/4 inch thick, cut into 6; equal pieces; Olive oil for brushing; 6 large lettuce leaves; 6 thin slices red onion

Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,531 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sesame, ginger, garlic, clove, pepper, olive):

Broccolifits better
Spinachfits better
Eggplantfits better
Mustardthe original

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Tuna Burgers with Ginger-Mustard Mayonnaise