Why it works: Chicken and tamarind work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 89 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
- Marinade
- Tamarind glaze
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Whisk the olive oil, herbes de Provence, chopped garlic, salt and black pepper in a bowl. Coat the chicken breasts in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Simmer the chicken broth, orange juice, sugar, orange zest, tamarind paste, grated ginger and chile-garlic sauce in a saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes until reduced by about half. Remove from heat and stir in the melted butter.
Preheat a grill to medium-high, about 450°F (232°C), and lightly coat the grates with cooking spray.
Shake off excess marinade from the chicken and grill for about 5 minutes per side until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).
Brush both sides of the chicken with the tamarind glaze during the last 2 minutes of grilling. Rest 3 minutes, then serve with the remaining warm glaze spooned over the top.
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 + tamarindtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together89 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,839 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Olive + chickentop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together10,796 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
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Olive + orangetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, chicken, orange, sugar, butter, tamarind):
- Gingerbetter flavor fit
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Cardamombetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, chicken, orange, sugar, butter, tamarind. 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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