Name: California-style Fish Tacos
Ingredients: 250px|right; ½ cup nonfat sour cream; ¼ cup fat-free mayonnaise; ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped; ½ package taco seasoning, divided; 1 lb cod or white fish fillets (4 total) ,cut into 1-inch pieces; 1 Tbsp olive oil; 2 Tbsp lemon juice; 2 cups shredded cabbage; 2 cups diced tomato; 12 6-inch warmed corn tortillas, soft shell; Lime wedges for serving (optional)

Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,289 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Corn + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together773 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,099 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Cod or white fish: Forms the flaky filling that provides the main substance of each taco.
Sour cream: Adds creamy moisture and cooling richness that balances the seasoned fish.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the fish and the taco seasoning.
Tomato: Adds juiciness and fresh acidity to the filling.

The step that matters

Cooking the fish until it flakes. Cod cooks quickly and becomes dry and tough once overcooked. Testing with a fork and removing it as soon as it flakes easily keeps the flesh moist and tender.

Swap the lime

The recipe marks lime as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, fish, olive, lemon, cabbage, tomato, corn):

Limethe original
Avocadofits about as well
Coconutfits less well
Orangefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, fish, olive, lemon, cabbage, tomato, corn. 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
Corn Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Taco	not in our table	0

California-style Fish Tacos