Why it works: Salmon and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 375 recipes mention both. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: soy, fish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Rub fillets with ginger and garlic.
Coat steamer basket with cooking spray and arrange fillets in basket.
In saucepan, bring 2" water to boil.
Steam and make sauce
Place steamer basket in saucepan and steam, covered 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, make sauce: combine lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and scallions in small bowl. Set aside.
Top fish with snow peas and steam, covered, until fish is cooked through and snow peas are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes longer.
Serve
To serve, make bed of snow peas, top with fish and drizzle all with sauce.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Salmon + peastop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together375 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Ginger + limetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,621 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Ginger + sesametop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,531 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Ginger + garlictop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,402 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Garlic + sesametop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,999 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon or other fish fillets
- Provides the protein that turns tender and flaky when gently steamed.
- Snow peas
- Stay crisp-tender from brief steaming and add fresh crunch under the fish.
- Soy sauce
- Adds salty depth to the sauce that seasons the fish.
- Lime juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sesame oil.
- Sesame oil
- Adds a toasty aroma to the sauce.
The step that matters
Steaming the fish and snow peas. Fish turns dry and rubbery if overcooked, while snow peas go dull and limp with too much heat. Timing the second steam by doneness keeps the fish moist and the peas crisp-tender.
Flavor stand-ins for the lime
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, ginger, garlic, sauce, sesame, peas):
- Avocadoabout as good a flavor fit
- Lemonabout as good a flavor fit
- Limethe original
- Coconutabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, ginger, garlic, sauce, sesame, peas. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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