Why it works: Chicken and pork 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 ↓
Boiled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dress and wash the chicken in cold water, then dry it with a linen cloth.
Trim the outside edges of the pork, wash it in warm water, and place it inside the chicken.
Tie the legs to the body and turn the wings behind, securing them with string.
Boil and serve
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and cover it with cold water.
Bring the water to a boil, skim off any foam, then reduce heat to simmer for one hour.
If the water level drops, replenish with boiling water.
Serve with oyster or egg sauce.
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 + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fat pickled pork
- Adds fat and flavour to the chicken as it cooks, keeping the meat moist.
The step that matters
Skim off any foam after bringing the water to a boil. Foam rising from the surface contains impurities released from the meat. Skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.
“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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