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Fish, - - - Tamarind Pulp

Fish marinated in tamarind pulp, vinegar, turmeric, chilies, ginger, and garlic, then sun-dried and stored.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Fish, - - - Tamarind Pulp

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Cut the fish into thick slices and sprinkle it well with salt.

  2. Let it sit for 24 hours, then wipe off excess salt and place it in the sun to dry.

Make and store the tamarind mixture

  1. In a bowl, mix tamarind pulp, vinegar, turmeric, chilies, ginger, and garlic with a little water.

  2. Pour the mixture over the dried fish and cover it.

  3. Store in a well-closed jar for up to 3 days.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Tamarind + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Tamarind + gingertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together325 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Turmeric + clovetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,876 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the main body of the dish and absorbs the tamarind and spice flavours.
Tamarind pulp
Provides the sour, fruity acidity that defines the dish.
Vinegar
Adds further sharpness and acidity to the marinade.
Dried chillies
Supply heat and pungency to the marinade.
Turmeric
Gives the fish its golden colour and earthy aroma.

The step that matters

Drying the salted fish in the sun. Salt draws moisture out of the fish, and drying firms its flesh and concentrates flavour. Wiping off excess salt first keeps the fish from tasting overly salty, so the timing and removal of salt both matter.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, tamarind, vinegar, turmeric, ginger, garlic):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, tamarind, vinegar, turmeric, ginger, garlic. 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.

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