Why it works: Fish sauce and coconut work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 362 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: soy, fish, shellfish (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.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sliced carrots and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the minced garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the red curry paste and cook for 1 minute more.
Pour in the chicken broth and add the fish sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the shiitake mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes until the mushrooms and carrots are tender.
Stir in the coconut milk and sriracha and keep at a gentle simmer for 2 minutes. Do not let it boil hard.
Add the peeled and deveined shrimp and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until opaque and the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C).
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the chopped green onion and cilantro leaves. 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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Fish sauce + coconuttop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together362 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Carrot + gingertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,377 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,839 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Ginger + coconuttop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,168 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, ginger, chicken, fish sauce, shrimp, coconut):
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, ginger, chicken, fish sauce, shrimp, coconut. 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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