Name: Vodka-cured Smoked Salmon with Preserved Lemons
Ingredients: 400g Smoked Salmon; ½ tbsp freshly ground Salt; ¼ tbsp White Sugar; Freeshly Ground Pepper to taste; 1 shot (40ml) Vodka (Citrus flavoured is even better); 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice; 2 Pieces preserved Lemon Rind, finely diced; 2tbsp Fresh Dill; 1tbsp Citrus Zest (Lemon, Orange or Lime); 1 tbsp 1 small Red Onion, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + dilltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lemon + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Smoked salmon: Forms the main body of the dish, with its own smoky flavour and firm texture.
Salt: Seasons the salmon and draws moisture from it during curing, firming its texture.
Vodka: Carries flavour through the dressing and adds aroma as it evaporates.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps season the salmon.
Preserved lemon rind: Adds concentrated, salty citrus flavour that cuts through the richness of the fish.
Extra virgin olive oil: Adds fat and carries flavour through the dressing, giving a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. The salt, acid and alcohol in the dressing need time to penetrate the salmon and season it evenly. Stopping early leaves the fish unevenly flavoured and less tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, sugar, pepper, vodka, lemon, dill, olive):

Cucumberfits better
Horseradishfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, sugar, pepper, vodka, lemon, dill, olive. 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
Smoked Salmon	100g cooked	208
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Vodka	not in our table	0
Citrus	not in our table	0

Vodka-cured Smoked Salmon with Preserved Lemons