Name: Thai Shrimp Halibut Curry
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 3 large limes; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 cup chopped shallots; 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-to 3/4-inch dice; 1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger; 2 1/2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen brand); 1 13 1/2- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk; 1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam); 16 to 18 ounces halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks; 8 peeled deveined uncooked large shrimp (8 to 10 ounces); 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro; 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Why it works: Lime and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,621 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 + 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).
Lime + coconuttop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together934 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lime + shallottop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together258 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ginger + coconuttop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,168 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, pepper, ginger, coconut, milk, fish sauce, shrimp):

Capsicumfits better
Sweet potatofits better
Carrotfits about as well
Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, pepper, ginger, coconut, milk, fish sauce, shrimp. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

Thai Shrimp Halibut Curry