Name: Corn Chowder with Grilled Shrimp
Ingredients: 1⁄4 cup plus 1 Tbs. olive oil; 2 Tbs. minced fresh basil; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 18 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined; 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into; 1-inch cubes; 5 cups milk; 1 cup heavy cream; 3 ears of corn, kernels removed; 3 bacon slices, cooked and chopped; 1⁄4 tsp. cayenne pepper; Lime slices for garnish

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + basiltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,063 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Basil + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Olive + potatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,458 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, shrimp, onion, potato, milk, cream):

Garlicfits better
Thymefits better
Celeryfits better
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, shrimp, onion, potato, milk, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Corn Chowder with Grilled Shrimp