Why it works: Shrimp and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,692 recipes. Both carry phenylethanol, which smells rose, floral. The science ↓
Fkied Shrimp
Ingredients
Directions
Scald the shrimp in hot water with red pepper and salt, then drain.
Once cooled, dip the shrimp in cornmeal.
Fry the shrimp until golden brown.
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.
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Shrimp + peppertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,692 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylethanol (rose, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shrimp
- Forms the main body of the dish; cooking them first in seasoned water partly cooks and seasons them.
- Cornmeal
- Forms a crisp, golden coating that browns when fried.
The step that matters
Frying the shrimp until golden brown. Frying in hot oil browns the cornmeal coating and crisps it, while overcooking toughens the shrimp, so watch the colour rather than the clock.
“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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