Name: Chicken and Bean Stir-fry
Ingredients: 1 chicken breast chopped into tiny bite-size pieces; 2 cups green beans (I love having the frozen ones in my freezer all the time); 2 stalks of green onion sliced into 1-inch pieces; 3-4 stalks of celery chopped in bite-size pieces; 1 cup sliced red pepper; 1 tbsp soya sauce; 1 cube chicken buillion; 1 tsp curry powder; 1/2 tsp red chili powder; 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper; salt, to taste; 2 tbsp cooking oil

Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 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.

Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together16,012 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Green beans + celerytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 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 breast: Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
Green beans: Add crisp-tender texture and bulk to the stir fry.
Celery: Adds crunch and a fresh, slightly vegetal flavour that holds up to quick cooking.
Red pepper: Adds sweetness, colour and a crisp bite.
Soy sauce: Adds salty, savoury depth and helps brown the ingredients in the wok.

The step that matters

Cook the chicken through before adding the vegetables. Small chicken pieces can look done on the outside while the centre stays pink. Cooking them fully first ensures they are safe to eat, and sealing the surface in hot oil gives better browning and flavour than crowding them with vegetables that release moisture.

Swap the green beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, celery, pepper, sauce):

Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits better
Tomatofits better
Green beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, celery, pepper, sauce. 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
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Chicken and Bean Stir-fry