Why it works: Sauce and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Shrimp Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the drawn-butter sauce and the picked boiled shrimps.
Add a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper just before serving.
Let the sauce simmer gently, avoiding a boil.
If using anchovy paste, stir it in at this stage.
If the shrimps are not pre-boiled, cook them in salted boiling water until they turn red, then cool, remove heads, and peel shells.
Reserve a few whole shrimps for garnishing.
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.
-
Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Shrimp + anchovytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together440 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
-
Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Drawn-butter sauce
- Provides fat and richness, giving the sauce its smooth, coating body.
- Shrimps
- Supply the main flavour and a tender, meaty texture that the sauce carries.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the buttery sauce and balances its richness.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds a savoury, salty depth that enriches the flavour of the sauce.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, avoiding a boil. High heat toughens shrimp proteins, making them rubbery. Boiling can also break a butter-based sauce, causing the fat to separate and turn greasy. Keeping the heat low preserves a tender shrimp texture and a smooth, cohesive sauce.
“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
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 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.