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 ↓
Tamarind Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Split the fish down the back and remove the bone.
Score the fish and sprinkle with fine powdered salt.
Let it sit for 1-2 days.
Wash the fish and hang it out in the sun to dry.
Make the tamarind mixture
Dissolve acid tamarind in vinegar and strain the liquid.
Boil ripe tamarind in vinegar and extract the pulp.
You need enough to cover the fish.
To every pint of tamarind juice, add 1 tablespoon of pounded turmeric, 2 tablespoons of dried pounded chillies, 4 tablespoons of sliced green ginger, and 4 tablespoons of vinegar.
Mix well and pour over the fish, then cover it.
Pack and store
Cut the fish into small pieces and wrap them with the tamarind mixture, ensuring it is not too liquid.
Place the wrapped fish in a jar and cover it tightly.
It will be ready to use in 2-3 days.
For longer storage, use 2 parts vinegar to 1 part tamarind pulp and add garlic.
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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Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,776 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Tamarind + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together299 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Tamarind + gingertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Turmeric + clovetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked 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
- Is the main food being preserved, becoming firm and tangy as it cures and dries.
- Fine powdered salt
- Draws out moisture from the fish and helps preserve it during curing.
- Acid tamarind
- Supplies sourness and acidity that flavours the fish and helps preserve it.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that helps preserve the fish and sharpens the tangy flavour.
- Dried pounded chillies
- Adds heat and pungency to the fish.
The step that matters
Drying the salted fish in the sun. Salting and drying remove water so spoilage microbes cannot grow easily. If the fish stays too wet, it may spoil before the acid and salt take full effect.
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):
- Cuminfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Corianderfits better
- 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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