Name: Nuoc Cham I
Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons); 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce; 1-2 tablespoon brown sugar; 1-2 Thai chiles or hot red chili peppers or serrano chili, seeded and thinly sliced; 1 clove garlic, minced

Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Nuoc Cham I

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
1-2 tablespoon brown sugar
1-2 Thai chiles or hot red chili peppers or serrano chili, seeded and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Let stand 10 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

88Calories

2 gProtein

1 gFat

21 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,893 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish sauce: Provides salty, savory depth that defines the sauce's flavor.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness that rounds out the sharp acidity and salt.
Garlic: Contributes sharp, aromatic pungency to the sauce.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, clove):

Cardamomfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Gingerfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, clove. 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.