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
Cook the chickens
Place the chickens in a large pot of water that is not cold.
Add the salt pork that has been boiling for 45 minutes.
Boil the chickens slowly for 10 minutes, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Finish and serve
Drain the chickens near the fire before serving.
Serve with egg sauce and garnish with parsley.
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).
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Chicken + parsleytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,314 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pork + parsleytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,804 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chickens
- Provide the main protein, which firms and turns tender as it cooks gently in water.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savory, salty flavor to the cooking water and the chicken.
The step that matters
Boil slowly, then simmer. Vigorous boiling toughens muscle fibers and can make the chicken dry and stringy. A slow boil followed by a covered simmer cooks the meat gently, keeping it tender and juicy.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pork):
- Garlicfits better
- Thymefits better
- Gingerfits better
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pork. 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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