Name: Chicken Gumbo
Ingredients: 1 quart chicken stock; 1 small green pepper, finely chopped; ½ can okra, chopped; ½ cup cooked rice

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 Gumbo

Ingredients

1 quart chicken stock
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
½ can okra, chopped
½ cup cooked rice

Directions

In a pot, combine chicken stock, green pepper, okra, and cooked rice.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Okra + ricetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together250 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Pepper + okratop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together727 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,379 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Chicken + okratop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together320 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Okra: Releases natural thickening starch that gives the gumbo body as it simmers.
Cooked rice: Adds bulk and soaks up liquid, making the gumbo heartier.
Chicken stock: Provides the liquid base and savory flavor for the whole pot.
Green pepper: Adds a fresh, slightly bitter vegetable note that softens as it cooks.