Name: Chicken and Rice with Sauce Oriental
Ingredients: 2 chicken breast halves, skinned and boned; 1 egg, beaten; 3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs; 1/2 teaspoon salt; Dash ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 3/4 cup chicken broth, divided; 1/4 cup plum jelly; 1 teaspoon vinegar; 1 teaspoon soy sauce; 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice Powder*; Dash hot pepper sauce; 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 1 cup hot cooked rice; Sliced green onions for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Chicken and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,769 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. 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 + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Pepper + plumtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,052 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,379 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Bread + ricetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breast halves: Provide the main protein, which turns opaque and firm as it cooks through.
Egg: Binds the dry bread crumbs to the chicken so the coating adheres during frying.
Dry bread crumbs: Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the chicken.
Plum jelly: Adds sweetness and body to the sauce as it melts into the broth.
Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce and makes it clear when heated with the liquid.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savory depth to the sauce.

The step that matters

Thickening the sauce with cornstarch. Cornstarch must be fully dissolved in cold broth before it goes into the hot skillet, and the sauce must be stirred and brought to a simmer. Otherwise it clumps or stays cloudy and fails to thicken evenly.

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg, bread, pepper, vinegar, sauce, rice):

Lemonfits better
Avocadofits better
Cherryfits about as well
Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, bread, pepper, vinegar, sauce, 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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Chicken and Rice with Sauce Oriental