Name: Ginger Chicken Stir-fry
Ingredients: 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce; 1/4 cup water; 1 pound skinned and boned chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 medium onion, cut into eight wedges; 1 16-ounce package frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mixture*; 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 tablespoon water; 3 cups hot cooked brown rice

Why it works: Broccoli and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 127 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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.

Broccoli + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together127 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Carrot + gingertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Broccoli + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,442 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Onion + broccolitop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,294 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts: Provide the main protein, which browns on the skillet surface and becomes tender when cooked through.
Cornstarch: Thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce as it heats with the starch granules swelling.
Teriyaki sauce: Adds salty-sweet flavor and color to the chicken during the marinating time.
Onion: Adds sweetness and aroma that develop as it softens and browns in the oil.
Brown rice: Serves as the starchy base that soaks up the sauce.

The step that matters

Gradually add the cornstarch slurry while stirring. Cornstarch clumps if dumped in at once, and it thickens only when the liquid is hot enough for the starch granules to swell. Adding it slowly while stirring keeps the sauce smooth and evenly thick.

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, chicken, onion, broccoli, carrot, ginger, white wine):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Mustardfits better
Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, chicken, onion, broccoli, carrot, ginger, white wine. 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
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Ginger Chicken Stir-fry