Why it works: Salmon and rhubarb work together. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and 25 recipes mention both. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: fish (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.
Crush the juniper berries and black peppercorns roughly in a mortar or under a heavy pan, then press them onto both sides of the salmon fillets.
Cut the peel and pith off the orange, then cut out the segments over a bowl to catch the juice. Squeeze any remaining juice from the membrane into the bowl.
Put the shredded rhubarb batons in a bowl with half the orange juice and let them sit for 10 minutes to soften slightly.
Whisk the 50ml extra virgin olive oil into the remaining orange juice to make a dressing. Set aside.
Heat the 2 tsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the salmon skin-side down and cook for 2 minutes.
Flip the salmon and cook for 1 minute more. If using unsmoked salmon, cook until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily, reaching 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part. Lightly smoked salmon only needs warming through.
Toss the watercress with the dressing and divide between two plates. Add the rhubarb and orange segments, then lay the salmon on top.
Spoon any remaining dressing over the salmon and serve straight away while warm.
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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Salmon + rhubarbtop 24% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together25 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Orange + rhubarbtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together299 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Olive + orangetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Orange + watercresstop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together98 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Rhubarb + watercresstop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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