Why it works: Miso and shrimp work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 16 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: soy, shellfish, sesame (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.
Whisk together the chicken broth, lime juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, white miso, sesame oil and agave nectar in a small bowl until the miso is smooth. Set the sauce aside.
Heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes until crisp-tender, then move it to a plate.
Heat the second 2 teaspoons canola oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, garlic and red chili flakes and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side until pink and opaque. The shrimp should reach 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part.
Return the zucchini to the pan, pour in the miso lime sauce and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce bubbles and coats everything.
Serve hot.
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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Miso + shrimptop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together16 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Ginger + limetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,621 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Chicken + ricetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,569 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Ginger + orangetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,833 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Lime + orangetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together937 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, ginger, garlic, chicken, lime, rice, vinegar):
- Mangobetter flavor fit
- Coconutbetter flavor fit
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, ginger, garlic, chicken, lime, rice, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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