Why it works: Onion and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,433 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Lobster Curry
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the lobster
Remove the shell from the lobster and cut the tail into about six pieces, keeping the claws proportionate.
Make the curry
Slice the onions and fry them in butter in a stewpan until light yellow.
Mix in the curry paste (or powder and paste) and add the broth.
Bring to a boil until slightly thickened, then add the lobster pieces.
Stir well, cover the stewpan, and place it in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.
If no oven is available, stew gradually over a slow fire, moistening occasionally.
Finish and serve
Add lemon juice before serving with rice on the side.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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.
-
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Lemon + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + ricetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 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
- Lobster
- Provides the main protein, becoming tender and firm as it cooks gently in the sauce.
- Onions
- Soften and sweeten as they fry, forming a flavour base for the curry.
- Butter
- Carries the curry flavour and enriches the onions as they fry.
- Curry paste
- Supplies the main spice flavour and aroma of the dish.
- Broth
- Forms the liquid base, which thickens slightly as it boils.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich, spiced sauce.
The step that matters
Heating the lobster gently. Lobster is delicate and turns rubbery when overcooked, so it should be added after the sauce has thickened and then heated only gently in the covered pan or over a slow fire.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, onion, butter, rice):
- Coconutfits better
- Avocadofits about as well
- Grapefits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, onion, butter, rice. 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.
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Lobster Croquettes99 recipes
Rice Fritters84 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.