Why it works: Coriander and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,038 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, 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.
Rinse the basmati rice, then cook it in a pan of boiling water over medium heat for about 10 minutes until tender. Drain and keep covered.
Put the desiccated coconut in a small bowl and cover with a splash of hot water. Leave it to soak for 5 minutes.
Blend the soaked coconut with the coriander, deseeded green chilli, chopped ginger, the juice of the half lemon and a splash of water until you have a smooth chutney.
Set a heatproof plate over a pan of simmering water. Place the tilapia fillets on the plate, dot with the butter, sprinkle with the ground cumin, cover and steam for 6 to 8 minutes until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily and reaches 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part.
Warm the naan bread in a dry pan for about 1 minute per side.
Serve the steamed tilapia with the rice, chutney, yogurt, warm naan and lemon wedges.
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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Coriander + coconuttop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Coriander + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,498 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + breadtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,145 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Yogurt + coriandertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,183 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Butter + coconuttop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,456 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basmati rice, butter, yogurt, naan, bread, coriander, coconut):
- Mangobetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Cherrybetter flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against basmati rice, butter, yogurt, naan, bread, coriander, coconut. 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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