Why it works: Salmon and coriander work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 683 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the tartare
Mince or coarsely chop the salmon, preferably in a food mixer. (Do not mash it!)
Combine the salmon with the shallots, pimiento, and chopped coriander leaves.
Season the mixture with salt and white pepper.
Make the sauce
In a bowl, stir together the sour cream, lime juice, Dijon mustard, and maple syrup; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble and serve
Form the mixture into small towers and top each with one teaspoon of caviar.
Place the salmon tartar on a plate, drizzle with the sauce, and garnish with lime wedges and coriander leaves.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Salmon + coriandertop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together683 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Coriander + limetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,536 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Shallot + mustardtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together842 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Salmon + caviartop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together42 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + creamtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,401 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Provides the main body of the tartare, and its chopped texture holds the dish together.
- Sour cream
- Adds creamy richness and moisture to the sauce, balancing the sharpness of the lime.
- Lime juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and cuts the richness of the salmon and cream.
- Dijon mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour and helps emulsify the sauce.
- Caviar
- Adds salty, briny bursts of flavour and a contrasting texture on top.
The step that matters
Mince the salmon without mashing it. Mashing breaks down the fish's muscle fibres and releases moisture, giving a pasty texture instead of the clean, distinct pieces a tartare needs. Chopping keeps the flakes intact.
Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, shallot, coriander, caviar, cream, lime, mustard):
- Dillbetter flavor fit
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, shallot, coriander, caviar, cream, lime, mustard. 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).
“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.
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