Name: Lemon-Sesame Linguine
Ingredients: 1?3 cup tahini; 1?4 cup boiling water; 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice; 3 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce; 2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger; 4 tsp. chile paste with garlic; 1 Tbs. grated lemon peel; 1 Tbs. Sugar; 4 cloves garlic, minced

Why it works: Ginger and clove 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 ↓

Lemon-Sesame Linguine

Ingredients

Directions

1. Bring large pot lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Make dressing: Put tahini into medium bowl. Gradually whisk in boiling water until smooth and creamy. Add remaining dressing ingredients and whisk until blended. (Dressing can be made up to 4 days ahead and refrigerated.)
3. Drop linguine into boiling water; stir to prevent sticking. Cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold running water. Drain again, shaking colander. Transfer to large bowl. Drizzle with sesame oil and toss to coat.
4. Add reserved dressing to linguine and toss to coat. Transfer to large shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle with scallions, parsley and sesame seeds and serve at room temperature.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

165Calories

4 gProtein

8 gFat

22 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 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
Tahini	1 tbsp (15g)	89
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Water	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.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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.

Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + garlictop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,893 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + clovetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the tahini

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, clove):

Chickpeafits better
Cashew nutfits better
Sesamefits better
Tahinithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.