Name: Tunisian Fish Cakes with Spicy Lemon and Paprika Aioli
Ingredients: 2 lbs. mild white fish fillets (such as orange roughly or halibut), cut into 1/2-inch thick cubes; 1 cup finely chopped onions; 6 garlic cloves, chopped; 3 tbsps. chopped fresh parsley; 3 tbsps. chopped fresh cilantro; 2 tsps. coarse kosher salt; 1 tsp. ground ginger; 3/4 tsp. ground black pepper; 6 tbsps. matzo meal; 1 large egg; 12 tbsps. (about) olive oil (for frying); spicy lemon and paprika aioli (see recipe)

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).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

White fish fillets: Provide the main body of the cakes, flaking into a tender, moist interior when cooked.
Matzo meal: Absorbs moisture and binds the ground fish so the cakes hold their shape.
Egg: Acts as a binder, setting during cooking to hold the cakes together.
Onions: Add moisture and savory sweetness that softens and blends into the mixture.
Olive oil: Conducts heat in the skillet, browning the outside of the cakes.

The step that matters

Frying the fish cakes. Medium heat and enough oil let the outside brown evenly before the centre cooks through. Too hot a pan browns the surface quickly while leaving the interior raw, and too little oil makes the cakes stick and cook unevenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, garlic, clove, parsley, ginger, pepper, egg):

Shallotfits better
Carrotfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, garlic, clove, parsley, ginger, pepper, egg. 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
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Tunisian Fish Cakes with Spicy Lemon and Paprika Aioli