Why it works: Chicken and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,814 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Crab and Sweet Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Bring stock to a boil in a large pan.
Add corn, crabmeat, seasoning, and soy sauce.
Allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Mix the cornstarch and water or stock.
Add a spoonful of the hot soup to the mixture.
Return the mixture to the soup and bring to a boil.
Cook until the soup thickens.
Finish and serve
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Stir the whipped egg whites into the hot soup just before serving.
Slice the green onions thinly on the diagonal.
Scatter the sliced onions over the top to serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Salmon | 100g cooked | 208 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp (15ml) | 9 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Chicken + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,666 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Corn + oniontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,205 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet corn
- Provides sweetness and body, thickening the soup's texture as it cooks.
- Crabmeat
- Adds the main seafood flavor and tender, flaky texture to the soup.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the hot stock into a glossy, smooth soup when brought to a boil.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to peaks and stirred in, they form soft, silky ribbons and a light texture.
- Chicken or fish stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavor of the whole soup.
The step that matters
Stir in the whipped egg whites just before serving. Egg whites set when heated, so adding them to hot soup just before serving creates soft ribbons. Stirring too long or adding them early can cause them to break into small clumps or become rubbery.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, corn, pepper, sauce, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, corn, pepper, sauce, egg. 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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