Name: Chicken and Rice Monte Carlo
Ingredients: 12 choice chicken pieces; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 cup sherry or dry white wine; 1/2 cup orange juice; 1 medium onion, sliced; 1 4-ounce can sliced mushrooms, undrained; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips; 3 cups hot cooked rice

Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. 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.

Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sherry + mushroomtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,176 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

Chicken pieces: Provide the main protein, which becomes tender during the long covered simmer.
Cornstarch: Thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce as it heats.
Sherry or dry white wine: Adds acidity and aroma, and loosens browned bits from the skillet into the sauce.
Orange juice: Adds sweetness and fruity acidity to the sauce.
Butter: Adds fat and flavour and helps the chicken brown.

The step that matters

Cook the sauce until clear and thickened. Cornstarch needs to reach a simmer to swell and thicken the liquid. Stopping early leaves the sauce thin and cloudy, while overcooking can break it down and thin it again.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, pepper, sherry, onion, mushroom, rice):

Coconutfits better
Grapefits better
Avocadofits better
Orangethe original

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

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken and Rice Monte Carlo