Name: Galinha À Portuguesa
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 450g/1lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 1½ tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tbsp white wine; 2 tsp salt; 2 tsp sesame oil; 2 tsp cornflour; 1½ tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger; 2 tsp finely chopped garlic; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tbsp dark soy sauce; 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice winedry sherry; 3 tbsp Madras curry paste; 1 tbsp turmeric; 1 tsp salt; 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk; 200ml/7fl oz chicken stock; 250g/9oz carrots; 250g/9oz potatoes; 1 onion; 2 tomatoes; 50g/1¾oz cooking chorizo; 2 bay leaves; and freshly ground saltwhite pepper; 2 tbsp desiccated coconut; 100g/3½oz black olives

Why it works: Olive and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,665 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.

Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Sesame + ricetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together984 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,531 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Sesame + garlictop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, sauce, white wine, sesame, olive, garlic, rice):

Cuminabout as good a flavor fit
Corianderabout as good a flavor fit
Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, sauce, white wine, sesame, olive, garlic, 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).

Galinha À Portuguesa