Name: Kangaroo Larb or Spicy Thai Kangaroo Salad
Ingredients: 300g kangaroo fillet ( chopped ); 2 eschalots ( finely chopped ); 1 spring onion ( chopped ); 2-3 tablespoons lime juice; 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce; 4-6 teaspoons ground red chilli; 2-3 tablespoons of Oz Lemon; Sugar to taste; 2 sprigs of mint leaves; 2 sprigs of thai basil leaves; 1 tablespoon khao koor (ground toasted rice)

Why it works: Lime and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,289 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 + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,289 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + minttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together846 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + minttop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,014 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Kangaroo fillet: Provides the main protein, cooked briefly so it stays tender and juicy.
Fish sauce: Adds savoury depth and saltiness that seasons the whole salad.
Lime juice: Adds acidity that brightens the dish and balances the richness of the meat.
Ground toasted rice: Adds a nutty aroma and a slightly crunchy, granular texture.
Ground red chilli: Adds heat and a pungent flavour that defines the salad.

The step that matters

Sauté kangaroo until medium. Kangaroo is very lean, so overcooking quickly makes it dry and tough. Stopping at medium keeps the meat moist and tender, which matters because the dressing is added afterwards and cannot restore lost juiciness.

Swap the thai basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, lime, fish sauce, lemon, sugar, mint, rice):

Corianderfits better
Turmericfits better
Gingerfits better
Thai basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, lime, fish sauce, lemon, sugar, mint, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Peppermint	not in our table	0

Kangaroo Larb or Spicy Thai Kangaroo Salad