Name: Crab Cakes with Avocado and Violette Crème Fraîche
Ingredients: 6 Pounds Cooked crab meat (Lobster meat can be substituted for crab meat); 9 Cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs); 4 ½ Pounds California Avocados, diced 1/4-inch; 3 Cups Finely diced red bell pepper; 3 Cups Finely diced yellow bell pepper; 1 ½ Cups Finely diced red onion; 1 ¾ Cups Mayonnaise; ¾ tsp Cayenne pepper - or to taste; ¾ Cup Thinly sliced chive; Vegetable oil - as needed; Violette Creme Fraiche - Recipe Follows; Chile oil - for garnish; Pieces of chive, about 3-inches long - as needed for garnish; Slices of California Avocados - as needed for garnish

Why it works: Avocado and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 119 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. 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.

Avocado + chivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together119 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Onion + chivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,907 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Avocado + oniontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,653 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Crab + lobstertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together196 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Crab meat: Provides the main body and flavor of the cakes.
Panko: Absorbs moisture and binds the mixture so the cakes hold their shape.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and moisture, keeping the cakes tender and helping them bind.
Avocado: Adds creamy richness and fat that balances the lean crab.
Red onion: Adds sharp aroma and a bit of bite to the filling.

The step that matters

Sautéing the crab cakes. Cook in hot oil and turn only once so a golden crust forms and the cakes hold together. Flipping too early or using low heat can make them break apart and absorb excess oil.

Swap the avocado

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (crab, meat, lobster, bread, pepper, onion, chive):

Avocadothe original
Lemonfits about as well
Limefits about as well
Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against crab, meat, lobster, bread, pepper, onion, chive. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Yellow Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Chive	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Meat	not in our table	0

Crab Cakes with Avocado and Violette Crème Fraîche