Name: Thai Green Curry Paste
Ingredients: 2 tsp. grated lemon zest; 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro; 1 large clove garlic; 1 medium shallot, roughly chopped; 1 small hot green chile pepper, seeded and roughly chopped; 1 tsp. ground ginger; 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg; 1 Tbs. vegetable broth; 1 tsp. canola or vegetable oil

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Garlic + shallottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,019 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Grated lemon zest: Adds bright, aromatic citrus notes that lift the paste.
Garlic: Contributes pungent aroma that deepens as the paste sits.
Shallot: Adds mild sweetness and savory aroma to the paste.
Hot green chile pepper: Provides heat and fresh, grassy pungency.
Canola or vegetable oil: Adds fat that carries aromatic flavors and helps the paste blend smoothly.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, clove, shallot, pepper, ginger, nutmeg):

Allspicefits better
Cinnamonfits better
Cardamomfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, clove, shallot, pepper, ginger, nutmeg. 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
Canola	1 tbsp (14g)	124
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Thai Green Curry Paste