Why it works: Flour and wasabi share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 28 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Makes 24Ingredients
Contains: egg, wheat, shellfish (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.
Pat the prawns dry. Working with a few at a time, dust each prawn in potato flour, dip it in the beaten egg, then coat it again in potato flour, shaking off the excess.
Set the prawns on a plate or tray and chill them while you make the sauces.
Mix the wasabi powder with a few drops of water to make a smooth paste. Stir it into the mayonnaise with the lime juice.
Finely chop the roasted red pepper from the jar and stir it into the sweet chilli sauce with the caster sugar to make the dip.
Heat the groundnut oil in a deep, heavy pan to 350°F (177°C), checking with a thermometer.
Fry the prawns in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp and the flesh is opaque in the centre, at least 145°F (63°C).
Lift the prawns out with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels for a minute.
Serve the hot prawns straight away with the wasabi mayonnaise and the sweet chilli pepper dip.
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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Flour + wasabitop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together28 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,491 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Potato + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,303 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + limetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together424 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Wasabi + limetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together35 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, wasabi, sugar, pepper, sauce, lime):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Mustardbetter flavor fit
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, wasabi, sugar, pepper, sauce, lime. 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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