Why it works: Chicken and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,092 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Chicken Panada
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Cut up the chicken and boil it slowly in water until done.
Remove the skin and cut off the white meat, discarding any fat.
Make the panada
Pound the meat to a smooth paste, adding the cooking water as needed.
Season with coarse sea salt and add a little lemon peel.
Boil gently for a few minutes, stirring constantly, and add more cooking water to achieve the right consistency.
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 + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,092 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein and body of the paste once pounded smooth.
- Cooking water
- Adds moisture so the pounded meat reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency.
The step that matters
Boil gently while stirring constantly. Heat thickens the mixture as the meat and liquid bind, while constant stirring prevents it from scorching on the base of the pan. Adding cooking water in small amounts lets you reach the right consistency without overthickening.
“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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