Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine the chicken and cold water.
Add sliced green ginger, onions, peppercorns, cinnamon, and salt.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the liquid reduces by half.
Strain the soup and serve hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Ginger + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,595 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Chicken + gingertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,494 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Onion + cinnamontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,150 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main flavor and body as its juices and collagen release into the broth.
- Cold water
- Forms the broth base, extracting flavor from the chicken as it heats slowly.
- Green ginger
- Adds a sharp, warm aroma that brightens the savory broth.
- Onions
- Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth as they simmer.
- Cinnamon
- Adds a subtle warm, woody aroma to the broth.
The step that matters
Simmer until the liquid reduces by half. Keep the heat low so the broth stays gently simmering rather than boiling hard. Vigorous boiling can make the broth cloudy and greasy, while gentle simmering yields a clearer, more flavorful soup. Reduce by half only as far as the recipe states.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, ginger, cinnamon):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, ginger, cinnamon. 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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