Name: Hearty Sausage Rice Stew
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage; 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 cup chicken broth; 1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes; 2 medium yellow squash, sliced; 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1 medium green pepper, coarsely chopped; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, crushed; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 2 tablespoons water; 3 cups hot cooked rice

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + eggplanttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together801 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Eggplant + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together651 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Italian sausage: Provides the main meat, fat and savory flavor that seasons the stew.
Cornstarch: Thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce when heated.
Eggplant: Softens during simmering and adds body and bulk to the stew.
Tomatoes: Add acidity and liquid that combine with the broth to form the sauce.
Onion: Builds a sweet, aromatic base when cooked until tender crisp.
Yellow squash: Softens during simmering and adds mild sweetness and moisture.

The step that matters

Thickening the sauce with cornstarch. Cornstarch must be mixed with cold water first, then stirred into the hot vegetables; added dry it clumps. It thickens only when it reaches a boil and is stirred until the sauce turns clear and glossy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, chicken, eggplant, tomato, pepper, thyme):

Oreganofits better
Basilfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, chicken, eggplant, tomato, pepper, thyme. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Eggplant	1 cup cubed (82g)	35
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Hearty Sausage Rice Stew