Name: Imitation Crab
Ingredients: white meat of roast or boiled fowl, minced (about 6 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons pounded cheese; 2 moderate-sized onions, chopped; 4-5 green chillies or cayenne peppers, chopped; 1 tablespoon anchovy sauce; 1 tablespoon Harvey sauce; 1 large tablespoon mustard; 2 tablespoons mushroom ketchup; black pepper, to taste; coarse sea salt, to taste; 3 tablespoons sweet oil

Why it works: Anchovy and sauce 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 ↓

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.

Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,626 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,805 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

White meat of fowl: Provides the bulk and the chewy, shreddy texture that imitates crab.
Pounded cheese: Adds savoury richness and helps bind the minced mixture.
Onions: Add sharpness and aroma to the relish.
Sweet oil: Adds fat and moisture, giving the mixture a smoother mouthfeel.
Mushroom ketchup: Contributes deep savoury, umami flavour.
Anchovy sauce: Adds salty, savoury depth that rounds out the flavour.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, cheese, pepper, anchovy, sauce, mustard, mushroom):

Shallotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, cheese, pepper, anchovy, sauce, mustard, mushroom. 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.