Name: Manhattan Clam Chowder
Ingredients: Two 6.5-ounce cans of minced clams; Lowfat cooking spray; 2 medium stalks celery, chopped; 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped; 1 small onion, chopped; One 8-ounce can of clamato juice (combination of clam and tomato juice); 2 cups of red potatoes, chopped; 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; Fresh ground pepper, to taste; One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. 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 + carrottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,563 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,193 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 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

Minced clams: Provide the main seafood flavor and tender, chewy bite in the chowder.
Red potatoes: Hold their shape while simmering and thicken the broth slightly as their starch releases.
Clamato juice: Adds tomato and clam flavor along with savory depth to the broth.
Diced tomatoes: Add acidity, body and tomato flavor that define a Manhattan-style chowder.
Celery, carrot and onion: Build a sweet, aromatic base as they soften in the pan.

The step that matters

Sautéing the vegetables until crisp-tender. Cooking them until just tender, not soft, keeps their texture and sweetness developing without turning mushy before the long simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, celery, carrot, tomato, potato, thyme, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Parsnipfits about as well
Okrafits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clam, celery, carrot, tomato, potato, thyme, 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Clam	100g cooked	148
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4

Manhattan Clam Chowder