Why it works: Chicken and peanut work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 541 recipes. Both carry 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓
Peanut Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peanuts
Dry peanuts in the oven until the skin can be rubbed off and the nuts are a deep biscuit in colour.
Crush with a rolling pin, or mince, to a very fine meal.
Make the soup
Strain the stock and simmer with the nut meal for 1/2 hour or more. Season to taste.
Finish and serve
Before serving, stir in milk, or even better, 1/2 small tin unsweetened condensed milk, add a little butter and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Peanut | 1 oz (28g) | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
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Chicken + peanuttop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together541 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
-
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Onion + peanuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,043 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Chicken + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Peanut + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,048 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peanuts
- Ground into a fine meal, they thicken the soup and give it a nutty body.
- Good stock
- Forms the savoury liquid base that carries the flavour of the whole soup.
- Milk
- Adds richness and a creamy texture that softens the nutty flavour.
The step that matters
Drying the peanuts. Roasting until the nuts are a deep biscuit colour develops their nutty aroma. Underdone nuts taste raw and grassy, while overdone nuts turn bitter.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, peanut, milk):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, peanut, milk. 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.
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