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Ginger Chicken Meatballs with Bok Choy

Ground chicken is leaner than other meats, but less fat doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor. These meatballs are loaded with aromatics like scallions, ginger and garlic.

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Why it works: Chicken and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,493 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep20 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Contains: soy (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. Combine the ground chicken, minced garlic, grated ginger, soy sauce, half of the sliced scallions, red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper in a bowl. Mix gently with your hands until evenly combined.

  2. Shape the mixture into small meatballs, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, and set them on a plate.

  3. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers.

  4. Add the meatballs in a single layer and brown them on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Turn them carefully so they hold their shape.

  5. Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a simmer. Scatter the chopped bok choy around the meatballs and push it under the liquid.

  6. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until the bok choy is tender and the meatballs reach 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.

  7. Remove the lid and simmer for 2 more minutes so the broth reduces slightly. Taste and adjust the salt if needed.

  8. Spoon the meatballs and bok choy into bowls with some broth, then top with the reserved sliced scallions and serve hot.

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 + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,493 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,839 recipes

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

  3. Ginger + coconuttop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,168 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Garlic + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Ginger + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,799 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, chicken, sauce, ginger, pepper):

  1. Limebetter flavor fit
  2. Lemonbetter flavor fit
  3. Mangobetter flavor fit
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, chicken, sauce, ginger, pepper. 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).