Why it works: Wasabi and cucumber work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 51 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.
Halve the cucumber lengthways, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, then slice the cucumber thinly into half-moons.
In a bowl, stir the rice wine vinegar, golden caster sugar and salt until dissolved. Add the cucumber and red chilli rings, toss well and set aside for 10 minutes.
Pat the salmon fillets dry. Mix the wasabi paste with a little oil and spread it over the top and sides of each fillet.
Heat a splash of oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the salmon and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the flesh is opaque and flakes or reaches 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part.
Transfer the salmon to a plate and rest for 1 minute.
Toast the poppy seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for about 1 minute, shaking often, until fragrant.
Spoon the steamed rice onto plates, add the salmon, and serve with the cucumber salad. Sprinkle the toasted poppy seeds over the salad before serving.
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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Wasabi + cucumbertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together51 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Cucumber + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together641 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,705 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Salmon + cucumbertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together509 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Salmon + wasabitop 5% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together76 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the poppy seed
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, wasabi, cucumber, rice wine, vinegar, sugar, rice):
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Poppy seedthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, wasabi, cucumber, rice wine, vinegar, sugar, rice. 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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