Name: Salt & Pepper Prawns
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 6-8 as part of a buffet
Ingredients: 2 tbsp cornflour; vegetable oil , for deep frying; 24 large king prawns , peeled and deveined, with tails; pea shoots or baby salad leaves, to serve (optional); 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns; 4 black peppercorns; 2 tbsp sea salt flakes; large pinch of chilli flakes; 1 garlic clove , crushed; 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves; 1 small red chilli , finely chopped; 2 tbsp caster sugar; juice 3 limes; 1 tbsp fish sauce

Why it works: Coriander and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,536 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Coriander + limetop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,536 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + coriandertop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together6,474 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + limetop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together909 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Garlic + limetop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together3,411 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + coriandertop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,221 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, coriander, sugar, lime, fish sauce):

Cuminbetter flavor fit
Gingerbetter flavor fit
Cardamombetter flavor fit
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, coriander, sugar, lime, fish sauce. 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).

Salt & Pepper Prawns