Why it works: Chicken and barley work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 265 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut up the chicken and place it in a pot with the milk.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook
When the chicken is about half cooked, add the barley or rice.
Once cooked, remove the chicken from the soup.
Tear or cut part of the chicken breast into small pieces and add to the soup.
Stir in the cream and serve.
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 + barleytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together265 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Chicken + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Pepper + barleytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + barleytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein and flavor that the milk broth carries.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the soup and gives it a rich, creamy body.
- Barley or rice
- Thickens the soup slightly as its starch releases during simmering and adds bulk.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the finished soup a smoother, silkier texture.
The step that matters
Adding the barley or rice at half cooked. Milk scorches easily on the bottom of a pot, and grains release starch that can stick. Adding the grain once the chicken is half cooked lets it finish cooking gently while the soup is kept at a low, steady heat.
“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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