Name: Somlah Machoo Soup
Ingredients: 2 stalks of lemongrass, thinly sliced; 5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped; 1 tablespoon peeled, coarsely chopped galangal; 1 large shallot, coarsely chopped; 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro; 1/4 teaspoon turmeric; 2/3 cup water; To make the paste: Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth, 2 to 3 munintes.; 2 1/2 pounds of baby back ribs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces across the bone, then cut between the bones; 1 tablespoon prahok ( optional ); 5 cups of water; 3 tablespoons of fish sauce; 1 1/2 tablespoon of salt; 1 tablespoon of sugar; 1 cup of tamarind juice; 1-1 1/2 pounds of Chinese watercress or regular watercress, cut into 2-inch pieces; Julienned red bell pepper, for garnish

Why it works: Shallot and watercress share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 93 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 + watercresstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together93 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together299 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Shallot + turmerictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together282 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Clove + turmerictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,876 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Garlic + shallottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 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

Baby back ribs: Provide the meat and bone that flavour the broth as they simmer and become tender.
Lemongrass: Adds a bright, citrusy aroma to the paste and broth.
Tamarind juice: Adds sourness that balances the salty fish sauce and sweetness.
Fish sauce: Adds salty, savoury depth to the broth.
Watercress: Adds fresh, slightly peppery leaves that wilt into the hot soup.

The step that matters

Simmering the ribs until tender. Ribs need a gentle, long simmer so collagen in the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin. Boiling hard can toughen the meat and cloud the broth, so keep the heat low once the soup has boiled and skim the foam first.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, shallot, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, watercress):

Cuminfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Cardamomfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, shallot, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, watercress. 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
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Lemongrass	1 tbsp (6g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Galangal	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Tamarind	not in our table	0

Somlah Machoo Soup