Name: Thai Green Curry with Chicken
Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (according to taste); 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar; 1–2 thick stalks lemongrass , fat ends bashed with a rolling pin (optional); 750 g (1½ lb ) skinless, boneless chicken , cut into chunks (use breast and/or leg meat); 6–8 kaffir lime leaves , torn into pieces (if unavailable, use the grated zest of 1 lime); 400 ml (14 fl oz) coconut milk; 1 good shake of Thai fish sauce or light soy sauce; 1 small handful of coriander leaves , roughly chopped; ½–1 ea . lime , juiced

Why it works: Lime and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,536 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.

Lime + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,536 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together934 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Coconut + coriandertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,039 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Coconut + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,648 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Chicken + coconuttop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together808 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Green curry paste: Supplies the main aromatic and spicy flavour base of the sauce.
Coconut milk: Provides fat and body, making the sauce rich and creamy as it simmers.
Chicken: Provides the protein that the sauce coats and the main body of the dish.
Soft dark brown sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the heat of the paste and the sourness of the lime.
Lime: Adds acidity that brightens the finished curry.

The step that matters

Simmering the coconut milk. Coconut milk can split or turn grainy if it boils hard, so it should be kept at a gentle simmer. Simmering for 25–30 minutes lets the sauce reduce and thicken slightly.

Swap the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, chicken, lime, coconut, milk, fish sauce):

Corianderthe original
Gingerfits about as well
Turmericfits less well
Cinnamonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, chicken, lime, coconut, milk, fish sauce. 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
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Kaffir Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Lemongrass	1 tbsp (6g)	5
Meat	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Thai Green Curry with Chicken