Name: Curried Shrimp and Bananas on Rice
Ingredients: 1 clove garlic, split; 1/3 cup butter or margarine; 1/3 cup flour; 1 tablespoon curry powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 1/2 cups chicken broth; 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined raw shrimp; 2 teaspoons onion juice; 6 small bananas, sliced; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1/8 teaspoon paprika; 3 cups hot cooked rice

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + chickentop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter or margarine: Carries the garlic flavor and forms the fat base that the flour thickens.
Flour: Thickens the broth into a smooth, stable sauce when cooked with the fat.
Curry powder: Supplies the main spiced flavor of the sauce.
Chicken broth: Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into the sauce.
Shrimp: Provides the main protein, which turns tender and opaque during simmering.
Bananas: Add sweetness and a soft texture that softens further when heated in the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmering the shrimp. Shrimp cook quickly and become rubbery when overcooked, so they should be checked at the short simmer time and removed from heat once opaque.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, butter, flour, pepper, ginger, chicken, shrimp):

Turmericfits better
Corianderfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, butter, flour, pepper, ginger, chicken, shrimp. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Banana	1 medium (118g)	105
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Curried Shrimp and Bananas on Rice