Why it works: Cucumber and mint work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 884 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Chilled Cucumber and Yoghurt Soup with Prawns
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Peel and deseed cucumbers; cut 2 into dice and blend with yoghurt, stock, sour cream, Tabasco, and mint.
Chill until very cold.
Peel and deseed the remaining 1/2 cucumber and cut into small thin matchsticks.
Cook and serve
Before serving, sauté prawns in the oil until they turn pink.
Sprinkle with salt and serve the prawns in the chilled soup immediately.
Serve the soup garnished with the strips of cucumber.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Shrimp | 100g cooked | 99 |
| Cucumber | 1/2 cup sliced (52g) | 16 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Sauce | not in our table | 0 |
| Peppermint | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together884 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Cucumber + olivetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
-
Chicken + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,888 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
-
Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Mint + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,240 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
- Cucumbers
- Provide the main body and fresh, cool flavour of the soup.
- Greek natural yoghurt
- Adds creamy body and a tangy acidity to the blended soup.
- Chicken stock
- Supplies savoury depth and liquid to thin the blended base.
- Sour cream
- Adds fat and richness, smoothing the texture of the soup.
- Raw prawns
- Provide the protein; cooking turns them pink and firm in the oil.
The step that matters
Sautéing the prawns. Prawns cook quickly and turn rubbery when overcooked. Cook only until they turn pink and opaque, so they stay tender when added to the cold soup.
Swap the mint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, chicken, cream, sauce, olive):
- Garlicfits better
- Capersfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Mintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, chicken, cream, sauce, olive. 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.
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