Name: Spicy Chicken and Basil Stir-Fry
Ingredients: 6 Tbs. chicken stock; 2 Tbs. Asian fish sauce; 2 tsp. firmly packed light brown sugar; 1/2 tsp. cornstarch; 2 Tbs. vegetable oil; 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch; strips; 1 or 2 Thai or jalapeño chilies, cut into very thin; rounds; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut; into thin strips; 3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves,; preferably Thai basil; 3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces; Cooked jasmine rice for serving

Why it works: Garlic and basil are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,805 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

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.

Garlic + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,805 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Clove + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,437 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

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

Swap the thai basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, clove, basil):

Gingerfits better
Oreganofits better
Thymefits better
Thai basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, clove, basil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

Spicy Chicken and Basil Stir-Fry