Name: Quick Chinese Chicken Salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 cup rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon sugar; 3 tablespoons Kikkoman Soy Sauce; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil; 1 (16 ounce) package mixed salad greens, washed and drained; 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley; 2 medium-size cooked chicken breast halves, skinned, boned and shredded

Why it works: Rice and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 984 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Quick Chinese Chicken Salad

4 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil
1 (16 ounce) package mixed salad greens, washed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 medium-size cooked chicken breast halves, skinned, boned and shredded

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

467Calories

32 gProtein

31 gFat

14 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salad	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together984 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sesame + chickentop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together939 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Rice + parsleytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,762 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Sesame + parsleytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together173 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, vinegar, sugar, sauce, sesame, chicken):

Gingerfits better
Garlicfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, vinegar, sugar, sauce, sesame, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.