Why it works: Shrimp and radish work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 34 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a pan of water to a boil, add the shrimp and cook 1 to 2 minutes until opaque and an instant-read thermometer reads 145°F (63°C). Drain, cool, then chop into small pieces.
In a medium bowl, whisk the crème fraîche, lemon zest, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
Stir in the finely chopped red onion and fresh dill.
Add the chopped shrimp, small-dice radish and small-dice cucumber, then fold gently until evenly coated. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes so the flavors meld and the salad chills.
Toast the rye bread slices if not already toasted. Spoon the shrimp salad generously onto each slice and serve open-faced.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Shrimp + radishtop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together34 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together976 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mustard + radishtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together296 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Dill + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,630 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
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, dill, mustard, sugar, pepper, shrimp, radish):
- Broccolibetter flavor fit
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, dill, mustard, sugar, pepper, shrimp, radish. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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