Name: Chinese Fried Chicken
Ingredients: 1 kg chicken - cut up into serving sizes; 1 tbsp cooking wine; 1 tsp sea salt; 1 tsp sugar; 4 tsp soy sauce; 4 green onions - cut into 1-inch pieces; 4 slices ginger root; 2 small egg yolks; 4 tbsp cornstarch; oil for frying

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 ↓

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 + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,595 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Chicken + gingertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,494 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together14,054 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Is the main protein that becomes tender inside while the outside crisps when fried.
Cornstarch: Forms a thin coating that fries up light and crisp on the outside of the chicken.
Egg yolks: Help the cornstarch coating cling evenly to the chicken pieces before frying.
Soy sauce: Adds savory flavor and color to the chicken during the marinade.

The step that matters

Deep fry at medium heat until cooked and crispy. Oil that is too hot browns the coating before the thick pieces cook through, while oil that is too cool soaks in grease and turns the coating soggy. Medium heat lets the chicken cook fully as the cornstarch crisps.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, wine, sugar, sauce, ginger, egg):

Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits better
Shallotfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, wine, sugar, sauce, ginger, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chinese Fried Chicken