Name: Grilled Fish with Pineapple-Cilantro Sauce
Ingredients: 1 med pineapple (about 2 lb); -peeled, cored and; -cut into 1" chuncks; 3/4 cup unsweetened pinapple juice; 2 tbsp lime juice; 2 cl garlic, minced; 1/2 tsp to 1 ts jalapeno pepper; 2 tbsp minced cilantro; 1 tbsp cornstarch; 2 tbsp cold water; 2 tbsp to 3 tb nutrasweet; -(r) spoonfull (tm); salt; pepper; 6 oz 4 oz halibut, haddock; -or salmon steks or fillets.; -grilled

Why it works: Lime and jalapeno are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,035 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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.

Lime + jalapenotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,035 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,491 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + jalapenotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,700 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pineapple + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together469 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lime + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,411 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

Pineapple: Provides sweetness and acidity that balance the savory sauce and the fish.
Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce as it boils, giving it a glossy, clinging body.
Lime juice: Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and cuts the richness of the fish.
Halibut, haddock: Provides the main protein, which is grilled and served with the warm sauce.

The step that matters

Boil the sauce after adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the liquid reaches a boil while stirring constantly. Stopping early leaves the sauce thin and starchy-tasting.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, garlic, jalapeno, pepper, haddock, salmon):

Avocadofits better
Lemonfits better
Mangofits better
Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, garlic, jalapeno, pepper, haddock, salmon. 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
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Haddock	100g cooked	112
Pineapple	1 cup chunks (165g)	82
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Grilled Fish with Pineapple-Cilantro Sauce