Name: Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Seared Tomatoes and Leeks
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb Chilean Sea Bass, skinless bones removed, cut into four 1 1/2" thick steaks; Salt to taste; Freshly- Ground Black Pepper to taste; 3 tbl Olive Oil; 1 cup Drained canned Plum Tomatoes crushed, juice reserved; 3 lrg Leeks split, washed, and julienned; 2 x Shallots finely minced; 1/4 cup Pitted nicoise olives; 3 tbl Capers; 1/4 cup Dry white vermouth; 1/2 cup Fish Stock; 3 tbl Chopped fresh tarragon; 3 tbl Unsalted butter

Why it works: Shallot and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Shallot + caperstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together405 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Leek + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together64 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Leek + caperstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Olive + caperstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,688 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Chilean sea bass: Firm, flaky white fish that holds its shape and becomes moist when roasted.
Plum tomatoes: Provide acidity and body to the sauce as they break down while searing and reducing.
Leeks: Soften during cooking and add a mild, sweet onion-like base to the sauce.
Unsalted butter: Adds richness and a silky finish when stirred into the sauce at the end.
Dry white vermouth: Adds aromatic acidity that helps lift and deepen the flavour of the sauce as it reduces.

The step that matters

Gently removing the fish from the casserole. Sea bass is delicate and flakes easily once cooked, so lifting it gently keeps the steaks intact and moist.

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, olive, tomato, leek, shallot, capers, vermouth):

Lemonfits better
Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, olive, tomato, leek, shallot, capers, vermouth. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Capers	1 tbsp (9g) drained	2
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Vermouth	not in our table	0

Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Seared Tomatoes and Leeks