Why it works: Chicken and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,958 recipes. Both carry piperonal, which smells bitter, coconut. The science ↓
Jellied Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the chicken
Boil the chicken in enough water to cover it until tender.
Remove the chicken and let the water boil down to 1 quart.
Make the jelly and set
Cut the chicken into small pieces.
Soak the gelatine in a little cold water, then add it to the boiled water.
Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
Slice the hard boiled egg and add it to the chicken.
Pour the strained liquid over the chicken and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a square mold and set in a cool place until firm.
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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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Chicken + saucetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,513 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,991 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sauce and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 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
- Provides the meat that sets into the jelly as the main body of the dish.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cooking liquid into a firm jelly when chilled.
- Hard boiled egg
- Adds a firm, mild contrast in texture to the jelly.
The step that matters
Soak the gelatine before adding it. Gelatine must hydrate in cold water first so it dissolves evenly into the hot liquid; added dry or clumped, it leaves gritty spots and weak setting.
“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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