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Cashew, Chilli & Lime-crusted Fish

The full-flavoured crust gives a hint of heat to this Indian-style meal

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Why it works: Fish and lime work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and 46 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep10 min
Cook15 min

Ingredients

Contains: tree nuts, 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.

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and brush a baking sheet with 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil.

  2. Blend the cashews, red chillies, 6 peeled garlic cloves, ginger, cumin, lime juice, the grated garlic clove and 1 tbsp vegetable oil until you have a coarse, thick paste.

  3. Pat the fish fillets dry and place them on the oiled sheet, leaving space between them.

  4. Spread the cashew crust evenly over the top of each fillet, pressing it gently so it sticks.

  5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the thickest part of the fish reaches 145°F (63°C) and flakes easily with a fork.

  6. Rest the fish for 2 minutes, then serve with any crust juices spooned over the top.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Fish + limetop 19% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together46 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Lime + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Lime + gingertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,621 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Ginger + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Garlic + cumintop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, lime, ginger, cumin):

  1. Corianderbetter flavor fit
  2. Turmericbetter flavor fit
  3. Cardamombetter flavor fit
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, lime, ginger, cumin. 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).