Name: Suan Yong Chao Ji Liu
Ingredients: Fresh Chicken Meat 250 g; Mashed Garlic 1 tbsp; Sliced Button Mushrooms 1/2 can; String Bean or Peas 100 g; Sauce; Cornflour 2 tbsp; Water 2 tbsp; Seasoning 1; Salt 1/4 tbsp; Cornflour 1/2 tbsp; Oil 1 tbsp; Seasoning 2; Sesame oil 1/8 tbsp; Pepper 1/8 tbsp; Salt, sugar 1/4 tbsp; Light soy sauce 1/2 tbsp; Stock soup 1/2 cup

Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. 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 + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
Garlic + sesametop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,700 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Provides the main protein, which stays tender when cooked just until done.
Button mushrooms: Add savoury flavour and moisture as they release liquid and brown in the wok.
String beans or peas: Give a crisp-tender texture and fresh colour to the stir-fry.
Garlic: Adds aroma as it fries in the hot oil.
Cornflour: Thickens the sauce so it coats the chicken, mushrooms and beans.
Light soy sauce: Adds salty, savoury flavour and colour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Parboil the fillets until cooked. Chicken must be cooked through for safety. Brief pre-cooking sets the meat's texture so it stays tender rather than overcooking during the final frying.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, meat, garlic, mushroom, sauce, sesame, pepper):

Peanutfits better
Beansfits better
Cashew nutfits better
Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, meat, garlic, mushroom, sauce, sesame, pepper. 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
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Soup	not in our table	0

Suan Yong Chao Ji Liu