Name: Chicken and Corn Chowder
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1/4 cup onion, chopped; 1/4 cup celery, chopped; 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 3 cups 1% milk; 2 cups skinless and boneless chicken, chopped; 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels; 1 teaspoon fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme; 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1 14-3/4 oz. can of creamed corn

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).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Celery + corntop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together920 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter or margarine: Adds fat for flavor and helps soften the vegetables before the flour goes in.
All-purpose flour: Thickens the milk into a creamy base as it cooks with the melted fat.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the chowder and gives it a creamy body.
Chicken: Provides the protein and substance that makes the chowder a hearty meal.
Corn kernels: Add sweetness and texture to the chowder.
Creamed corn: Adds more corn sweetness and thickens the chowder body.

The step that matters

Stirring the flour into the fat. Flour must be cooked briefly and stirred constantly so it blends smoothly and does not clump or taste raw. Once the milk is added and the mixture simmers, the flour thickens the chowder.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, celery, pepper, flour, milk, chicken, corn):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Carrotfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, celery, pepper, flour, milk, chicken, corn. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken and Corn Chowder