Why it works: Fish sauce and canola oil work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 78 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
The recipe
4 platesIngredients
Contains: soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the fish
Cut fish into 1/2-inch chunks.
Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine coconut milk, turmeric, paprika, curry powder, ginger, garlic, chili pepper and fish sauce. Mix well.
Add fish pieces, and toss until well coated. Let marinate 15 minutes.
Cook the fish
Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Heat oil, and add onions.
Saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add fish mixture. Saute until fish is opaque, about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.
Serve
Spoon into lettuce cups. Place three cups on each of 4 plates.
Garnish with kaffir lime leaves, and serve.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Fish sauce + canola oiltop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together78 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,775 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Pepper + turmerictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,476 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Coconut + turmerictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,028 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Coconut + gingertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,168 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Monkfish or cod fillets
- Firm white flesh that holds its shape in chunks and turns opaque when cooked.
- Coconut milk
- Adds fat and richness, and softens the heat of the chili and spices.
- Garlic
- Adds pungent aroma that deepens as it cooks in the skillet.
- Fresh thai chili pepper
- Adds heat and fresh aroma to the marinade.
- Fish sauce
- Adds savory depth and salty umami flavor.
- Onion
- Softens and sweetens as it cooks, adding a base layer of flavor.
The step that matters
Saute the fish until just opaque. Fish proteins set and toughen quickly with heat, so cooking only until opaque keeps the chunks moist and tender rather than dry and rubbery.
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, coconut, milk, turmeric, ginger, fish sauce, canola oil):
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Cardamombetter flavor fit
- Cuminbetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, coconut, milk, turmeric, ginger, fish sauce, canola oil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
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