Why it works: Pork and chicken match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Chop Suey
Ingredients
Directions
Heat 4 ounces of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add the pork, celery, and ginger root; cook until lightly colored.
Stir in vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, boiling water, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and cloves.
When the pork and giblets are almost tender, add the vegetables.
Cook for a little longer, then drain off excess juice.
Add 1 teaspoon of Chinese brown sauce and serve with boiled rice.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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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Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Celery + gingertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together988 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Chicken + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,888 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
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Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 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
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, liver, chicken, celery, pepper, olive, vinegar):
- Thymefits better
- Garlicfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, liver, chicken, celery, pepper, olive, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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