Why it works: Chicken and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 539 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (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.
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and lightly grease a baking dish.
Beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Spread the dry bread crumbs mixed with a little grated Parmesan cheese on a plate.
Dip each chicken breast half in the beaten egg, then press it into the bread crumb mixture to coat both sides.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken for about 2 minutes per side, then transfer to the baking dish.
Bake the chicken for 10 to 12 minutes, until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).
While the chicken bakes, whisk the condensed cream of asparagus soup, milk and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until smooth and hot, about 3 minutes.
Keep the sauce warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.
Spoon the hot cooked rice onto plates, top with a chicken breast, and spoon the asparagus sauce over the top.
Sprinkle with a little more grated Parmesan cheese 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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Chicken + asparagustop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together539 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Chicken + ricetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,569 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,354 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Asparagus + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together244 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Rice + parmesan cheesetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together874 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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