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Fish Tea Soup

A Jamaican soup made with fish, garlic, potatoes, green bananas, and spices, simmered and served hot.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Fish Tea Soup

Time8 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Wash fish in vinegar or lemon and drain.

  2. Combine the fish, garlic, and water, and boil until the fish is off the bone.

  3. Pour the contents through a strainer and remove all bones.

Make the soup

  1. Wash the potatoes and cut them small.

  2. Add the potatoes and salt to the strained soup.

  3. Peel and add the green bananas.

  4. Let the soup simmer, then add thyme, scallion, pepper, pimento, and black pepper.

  5. Simmer for another 8 minutes, then serve hot with Excelsior crackers.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

511Calories
27 gProtein
14 gFat
75 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 13 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Banana1 medium (118g)105
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Scotchnot in our table0
Pimentonot in our table0
Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. 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

Small fish
Provides the main flesh and flavour that gives the broth its body.
Potatoes
Break down slightly as they cook, adding body and thickening the broth.
Green bananas
Firm starchy fruit that softens as it simmers, adding bulk and mild earthiness to the soup.
Garlic
Releases aromatic compounds into the hot water, deepening the savoury flavour of the broth.
Lemons or limes
Add acidity that brightens the fish flavour and balances the richness of the broth.

The step that matters

Removing all the bones after straining. Small fish bones are fine and brittle once cooked and easily missed in a soup. Checking the strained liquid carefully keeps them from reaching the diner's mouth while the flesh is still soft.

Swap the banana

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, clove, thyme, potato, pepper, lemon):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Bananathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, clove, thyme, potato, pepper, lemon. 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.

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