Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Rice with Cod Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Heat oil. Add the sliced onions.
Add the garlic, tomatoes, black or white pepper, and the stock cubes.
Add the soy sauce and the shredded codfish, then stir. Let simmer until the codfish is light brown.
Cook the rice and serve
Add the coconut milk to the rice and stir.
Cover the pot or rice cooker and cook.
Serve with sliced cucumber and/or tomato.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut | 1/2 cup shredded (40g) | 283 |
| Rice | 1 cup cooked (158g) white | 206 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Codfish | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Rice + coconuttop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,063 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the coconut milk as it cooks.
- Shredded codfish
- Provides the main savoury flavour and, when browned, a deeper taste.
- Coconut milk
- Adds richness and moisture, and fat that softens the rice texture.
- Onion
- Builds a sweet, savoury base flavour as it cooks in the oil.
- Tomatoes
- Contribute moisture and a mild acidity that brightens the dish.
- Soy sauce
- Adds salty, savoury depth and helps colour the codfish as it cooks.
The step that matters
Simmering the codfish until light brown. Browning the fish in the seasoned base concentrates its flavour. Cooking it too briefly leaves it bland, while over-reduction can make it dry or bitter.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, onion, tomato, sauce, clove, garlic, coconut):
- Cuminfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Corianderfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, onion, tomato, sauce, clove, garlic, coconut. 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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