Why it works: Chicken and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,569 recipes mention both. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (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.
Place the chicken breast halves in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker.
Scatter the onion chunks and chopped green bell pepper over the chicken.
In a bowl, stir together the tomato paste, brown sugar, seasoned rice vinegar, Asian chili black bean sauce and sea salt until smooth, then pour over the vegetables and chicken.
Add the dark red kidney beans, pinto beans and black beans, with their liquid, on top and stir gently so the chicken is coated.
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours (300 minutes), until the chicken is tender and reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred it with two forks.
Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir well to combine with the beans and sauce.
Ladle into bowls and top each serving with shredded Cheddar cheese.
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 + ricetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,569 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Kidney beans + beanstop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together364 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Beans + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,711 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together942 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Tomato + ricetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,990 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, kidney beans, beans, pepper, tomato, sugar, rice):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, kidney beans, beans, pepper, tomato, sugar, rice. 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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