Name: Colombian Mango Ceviche
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce or ketchup; 1 cup of white vinegar; 1 cup of sunflower oil; 3 big, round red onions finely chopped; 3 yellow reddish mangoes (not quite ripe yet); juice of 3 lemons; a handful of cilantro (chinese parsley); a pinch of pepper, of salt, of sugar, of hot chili powder

Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Colombian Mango Ceviche

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce or ketchup
1 cup of white vinegar
1 cup of sunflower oil
3 big, round red onions finely chopped
3 yellow reddish mangoes (not quite ripe yet)
juice of 3 lemons
a handful of cilantro (chinese parsley)
a pinch of pepper, of salt, of sugar, of hot chili powder

Directions

Prepare the mangoes

Peel the mangoes and cut them into small rectangles, the size of shrimp.
Finely cut the cilantro, taking care of leaving aside the stems.

Marinate

Put the mangoes, the cilantro, and the rest of the ingredients in a deep bowl.
Let set for 2 hours.
Cover and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Serve

Serve on soda crackers like common ceviche.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

146Calories

4 gProtein

1 gFat

35 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sunflower Oil	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.

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.

Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sunflower + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together352 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sunflower + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together256 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

Mangoes: Provide the main body and tart-sweet flavor; their slight firmness keeps the pieces holding their shape.
Red onions: Add sharp pungency and crunch that cuts through the sweetness of the fruit.
White vinegar: Acidity that sharpens the flavor and helps the mixture taste bright and tangy.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity and brightness that balances the sweetness of the mango.
Tomato sauce or ketchup: Adds sweetness, color and a savory tomato background to the marinade.
Sunflower oil: Adds fat that carries flavor and gives the mixture a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Marinating overnight in the refrigerator. Acid from the vinegar and lemon juice slowly softens and flavors the mango pieces, so the marinade needs its full resting time to blend. Keeping it cold slows spoilage during the long rest.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, vinegar, sunflower, mango, lemon, parsley, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Carrotfits better
Broccolifits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, vinegar, sunflower, mango, lemon, parsley, pepper. 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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Colombian Mango Ceviche