Hawaiian Haystacks

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.

1. Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,172 recipes

   Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,516 recipes

   Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

5. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,814 recipes

   Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter

Melted fat that forms the base of the roux with the flour.

Flour

Thickens the milk into a smooth, creamy sauce as it cooks.

Milk

Forms the liquid base of the creamy sauce with the flour and soup.

Cream of mushroom soup

Adds body, savory flavor, and creaminess to the chicken sauce.

Chicken breasts

Provide the main protein, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces.

Cooked rice

Forms the starchy base that the sauce and toppings sit on.

The step that matters

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, cream, mushroom, chicken, onion):

1. Coconutfits better
2. Avocadofits better
3. Vanillafits about as well
4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, cream, mushroom, chicken, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.