Name: Spiced Chicken and Pandan Leaves
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: Makes about 20
Ingredients: 4 garlic; 10 coriander; 15g/½oz galangal; 1 tbsp crushed palm sugar; squeeze of lime juice; a good pinch white pepper; 1 tbsp sesame oil; 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce; 1 tbsp dark soy sauce; 500g/1lb 2oz 2 large or 3 medium skinless chicken breasts; 20 pandan leaves; , for frying vegetable oil; 2 limes; 40g/1½oz finely grated gingerginger; 1 pinch sugar; 1 tbsp sesame oil; ½ tbsp Thai fish sauce; ½ tbsp soy sauce; ½ tbsp rice vinegar

Why it works: Coriander and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,536 recipes mention both. 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Coriander + limetop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,536 recipes

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

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together6,474 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + sesametop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Lime + sesametop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together431 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Garlic + limetop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,411 recipes

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

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

Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, coriander, sugar, lime, sesame, fish sauce, sauce):

Cuminbetter flavor fit
Gingerbetter flavor fit
Turmericbetter flavor fit
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, coriander, sugar, lime, sesame, fish sauce, sauce. 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).

Spiced Chicken and Pandan Leaves