Name: Liberian Jollof Rice
Ingredients: 2 large chicken breasts, cut into cubes; Salt to taste; Chile powder to taste; 1 cup vegetable oil; 1 large sweet onions , neatly chopped; 2 pounds boiled pork or beef , cut into cubes; 2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables (such as sweet corn , string beans, etc), thawed and drained; 2 medium-size cans of tomato paste; 4 chicken bouillon cubes , crushed; 3 pounds steamed shrimp (optional); 2 cups diced bell pepper; 5 cups rice , rinsed

Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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.

Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,417 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,099 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + beanstop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,242 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice: Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the tomato and bouillon flavour as it cooks.
Tomato paste: Provides concentrated tomato flavour, colour and acidity that give the rice its red hue.
Chicken breasts: Supplies savoury meat flavour and protein that browning in oil deepens.
Pork or beef: Adds rich, savoury meat flavour and body to the stew base.
Onion: Builds sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens in the oil.
Bouillon cubes: Seasons the stew and rice with concentrated savoury, salty flavour.

The step that matters

Cooking the rice over low heat. Rice absorbs liquid as it cooks, so low heat lets it cook through evenly while the liquid is absorbed, reducing the risk of scorching at the bottom of the pot.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pork, corn, beans, tomato, shrimp, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Okrafits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pork, corn, beans, tomato, shrimp, 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0

Liberian Jollof Rice