Why it works: Chicken and mushroom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,171 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: sesame (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.
Cover the dried shiitake mushrooms with boiling water and soak for 30 minutes until soft. Drain, squeeze out the excess water, discard the stems, and slice the caps.
Meanwhile, put the diced chicken thigh in a bowl with the minced garlic, minced ginger and teriyaki marinade. Stir to coat, cover, and refrigerate for 30 to 35 minutes.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
Add the chicken and its marinade to the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes, stirring, until the edges are browned.
Stir everything together and simmer for 1 minute until the pan juices look glossy.
Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the chicken and mushrooms and serve hot.
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.
-
Chicken + mushroomtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,171 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
-
Shiitake + sesametop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together142 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Garlic + shiitaketop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together292 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Ginger + sesametop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,531 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,839 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
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.