Why it works: Chicken and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,769 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Chicken Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Cut up the chicken, separating all joints and carving meat from bones. Remove excess fat.
Pack the meat and bones in a kettle and cover with cold water. Let it sit until the juice begins to draw.
Fill with cold water until the meat is one third of the depth in the kettle.
Simmer the broth
Cover and heat gradually. Bring to a slow boil. Simmer for 1.5 hours. Skim off excess fat.
Meanwhile, wash and soak the rice.
After 1.5 hours, strain the broth through a colander and return it to the kettle. Add the soaked rice. Bring back to a gentle boil.
Finish the soup
Pick out the meat from the bones. Cut it into small pieces. Return it to the soup. Simmer gently for another 30 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of mace if desired. Just before serving, stir in a little cream.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,769 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Rice + macetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together932 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Gives the broth its meaty flavour as the meat and bones release juices into the water.
- Rice
- Thickens the soup slightly as its starch softens and releases into the broth.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a soft, smooth mouthfeel when stirred in just before serving.
The step that matters
Heating gradually and keeping a slow simmer. Starting cold and heating slowly lets the juices draw out of the meat. A hard boil makes the broth cloudy and can toughen the meat, so keep it at a gentle simmer.
Swap the mace
The recipe marks mace as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, rice, pepper, cream):
- Celeryfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, rice, pepper, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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