Why it works: Cherry tomato and sugar work together. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and 6 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: soy, fish, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the stock
Clean the prawns: shell, devein, and keep heads and shells aside.
Heat the soup pot, add oil, and fry one fifth of the herb ingredients.
Add the prawns' heads and shells to the pot and fry.
Add 1 litre of water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Strain the liquid to obtain 8 cups of stock, and set aside the remaining herbs to blend into a fine paste.
Cook and serve
Bring the stock to a boil, add the prawns and the remaining herb ingredients, and simmer for a few minutes.
Season with lime juice, salt, fish sauce, sugar, and a spoonful of the prepared paste; boil for 3 minutes.
Garnish with spring onion and coriander sprigs, and serve hot.
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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Cherry tomato + sugartop 26% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon grass + limetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together407 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon grass + fish saucetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together304 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Lemon grass + shallottop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together46 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lime + fish saucetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together798 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- King prawns
- Provide the main protein and sweet flavour; they cook quickly and turn firm once heated through.
- Galangal
- Adds a sharp, citrusy-peppery aroma that gives the broth its characteristic fragrance.
- Lemon grass
- Contributes a bright, lemony aroma that perfumes the broth.
- Fish sauce
- Adds savoury depth and saltiness, rounding out the broth's flavour.
- Lime juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the soup and balances its richness and sweetness.
- Hot bird chili
- Adds heat and pungency to the broth.
The step that matters
Adding the prawns to the boiling stock. Prawns cook in a few minutes and turn rubbery if overcooked. Adding them to a gently simmering stock and removing the pot from heat once they turn opaque keeps them tender.
Flavor stand-ins for the cherry tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon grass, lime, shallot, onion, fish sauce, sugar):
- Coconutbetter flavor fit
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Mangobetter flavor fit
- Cherry tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon grass, lime, shallot, onion, fish sauce, sugar. 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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