Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Tie the feet of the chicken down and turn the wings back.
Cook
Boil the chicken in 2 quarts of water until half done.
Add 2 tablespoons of rice for each chicken and continue cooking.
Finish and serve
Before serving, stir in the chopped hard-boiled egg, flour mixed with water, salt, pepper, and 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.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,769 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Rice + parsleytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,762 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Forms the body of the soup, releasing flavor and gelatin into the broth as it cooks.
- Rice
- Swells as it cooks, adding body and thickening the broth.
- Hard-boiled egg
- Adds richness and soft texture to the finished soup.
- Flour
- Mixed with water and stirred in, it thickens the broth.
The step that matters
Adding the flour mixture before serving. Flour mixed with water must be stirred in so it disperses without lumps. Its starch thickens the broth as it heats, so it should be added off the heat or gently to avoid clumping.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, rice, egg, flour, pepper, butter):
- Turmericfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, rice, egg, flour, pepper, butter. 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.
More chicken soup recipes
You might also like
Rice Water82 recipes
Rice Milk37 recipes
Ground Rice Milk7 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.