Why it works: Peanut oil and chicken work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 265 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: peanut (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Brown the chicken
Heat a couple spoonfuls of oil in a deep pot.
Add the chicken and fry it on both sides until it is browned and nearly done.
Remove the chicken and set aside. It might be best to fry part of the chicken and remove it, then repeat the process two or three times.
Ensure the chicken pieces do not touch each other while frying.
Make the sauce
Fry the onions and garlic in the same pot.
Stir in tomato paste.
Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.
Return the chicken to the pot.
Stir in peanut butter. If using peanuts, first shell and roast them, then grind or mash them into a paste, adding water if needed.
Be sure to use a very low heat or peanut butter will scorch.
Stir in enough water to make tomato paste and peanut butter into a smooth sauce.
Add spices to taste. Stir.
Finish
Simmer on low heat until the chicken is done.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Peanut oil + chickentop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together265 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Chicken + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,839 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Garlic + peanuttop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together877 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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 browns on the outside while cooking through in the sauce.
- Tomato paste
- Adds concentrated tomato flavour, acidity and body to the sauce.
- Peanut butter
- Thickens the sauce and adds richness, nuttiness and fat for a smooth texture.
- Onions
- Soften and sweeten as they fry, building a savoury base for the sauce.
The step that matters
Keep the heat very low when adding peanut butter. Peanut butter contains sugars and proteins that scorch quickly at high heat, producing bitter burnt flavours and sticking to the pot. Gentle heat keeps the sauce smooth and tasting fresh.
“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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