Why it works: Chicken and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,769 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Chicken Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Cut the chicken into small pieces and crack the bones.
Place the chicken in 1 quart of cold water without salt.
Cook until the chicken falls apart.
Strain the broth.
Finish and serve
Soak the rice or barley in a little warm water.
Add the soaked rice or barley, milk, salt, and pepper to the broth.
Simmer for five minutes, ensuring it does not burn.
Serve hot with crackers.
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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Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,769 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Chicken + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Releases flavor and body into the water as it cooks, giving the broth its base.
- Rice or barley
- Adds body and a little starch to thicken the broth as it simmers.
- Milk
- Adds richness and softens the broth's flavor.
The step that matters
Simmer after adding the milk. Milk can scorch on the bottom of the pot and curdle if it boils hard. Keeping the heat gentle and stirring helps the broth stay smooth and free of burnt flavor.
“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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