Name: Tiger with Spring Greens, Tomato, Onions and Garlic
Ingredients: 100 g (4 oz) butter, plus a little for frying the fish; ½ medium onion, very finely chopped; 4 plum tomatoes, skinned, seeded and diced; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 450 g (1 lb) spring cabbage, chard, rape greens or spinach, very finely chopped; 400 g (14 oz) fish fillets; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 level dessertspoon chopped fresh parsley; 1 tablespoon ground fresh nuts, for example, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, etc. (optional); lemon wedges, to garnish

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Plum + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,480 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,001 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Garlic + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together635 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds richness and flavour, and browns to give a nutty finish for the sauce.
Spring cabbage or greens: Forms the bulk of the dish, softening into a tender bed for the fish.
Fish fillets: Provide the main protein, turning golden and flaky when quickly fried.
Plum tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that help form a soft, savoury base with the onion.
Onion: Adds sweetness and savoury depth as it softens in the butter.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the buttery greens and fish.

The step that matters

Browning the butter. Butter left too long turns from golden to burnt, giving a bitter taste. Watch it closely and stop once it is golden, since the milk solids darken quickly at the end.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, fish, onion, plum, tomato, garlic, clove):

Potatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Chivefits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, fish, onion, plum, tomato, garlic, clove. 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
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Peanut	1 oz (28g)	161
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Chard	not in our table	0
Rape	not in our table	0
Nuts	not in our table	0

Tiger with Spring Greens, Tomato, Onions and Garlic