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Skinny Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry

All the addictive deliciousness of takeout … all the healthy wholesomeness of homemade!

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Why it works: Chicken and broccoli are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,235 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep10 min
Cook15 min

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, soy, 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.

  1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized cubes. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

  2. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no pink remains and it reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part, about 5 minutes. Move it to a plate.

  3. Add the garlic, ground ginger and carrots to the pan and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

  4. Add the thawed broccoli and water chestnuts and stir-fry for 3 minutes until the broccoli is tender-crisp.

  5. Whisk the white wine, honey and soy sauce together, pour into the pan and return the chicken with its juices. Simmer for 2 minutes.

  6. Mix the cornstarch, if using, with the 1 teaspoon water, stir into the pan and cook about 1 minute until the sauce thickens. Without cornstarch the sauce stays thin.

  7. Serve over the cooked brown rice or quinoa, topped with the sesame seeds and the scallions if using.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Chicken + broccolitop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).

  2. Garlic + broccolitop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,072 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Sesame + water chestnuttop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together112 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Sesame + broccolitop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together372 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  5. Chicken + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned 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

Flavor stand-ins for the water chestnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sesame, chicken, garlic, carrot, broccoli, white wine, honey):

  1. Grapebetter flavor fit
  2. Lemonbetter flavor fit
  3. Limeabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Water chestnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sesame, chicken, garlic, carrot, broccoli, white wine, honey. 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).