Why it works: Rice and chicken 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 Hash with Rice Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Boil 1 cup of rice the night before and place it in a square, narrow bread pan in the refrigerator.
The next morning, cut the rice into ½ inch slices.
Toast the rice
Rub warm butter over each slice and toast them on a broiler until golden brown.
Arrange the toast on a warm platter.
Make the hash and serve
In a frying pan, combine the chopped chicken with butter and a little water to moisten.
Add pepper and coarse sea salt, and heat until hot throughout.
Serve the chicken hash over the rice toast immediately.
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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Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,769 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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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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Butter + chickentop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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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
- Rice
- Chilled overnight, it firms up so the slices hold their shape and toast crisp.
- Butter
- Adds fat and browning, giving the rice toast a golden colour and rich flavour.
- Leftover chicken
- Provides the main protein; moistened with butter and water so it stays tender when reheated.
The step that matters
Toasting the rice slices until golden brown. Under a broiler the surface can go from golden to burnt within seconds. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs sufficient surface dryness and heat, and the butter helps it brown evenly. Watch closely and pull the toast as soon as it is golden.
“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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