Why it works: Chicken and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,814 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Puree of Green Peas Soup
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
In a pot, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent.
Cook and blend
Add the green peas and broth, then bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Blend the mixture until smooth, then season with salt and pepper.
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 + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,460 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + chickentop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,528 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green peas
- Provide the main body, flavor and starch that thickens the soup when blended.
- Broth
- Supplies the liquid that cooks the peas and forms the soup base.
- Onion
- Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it softens in the butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and carries the flavor of the onion.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, butter, pepper):
- Sesamefits better
- Beansfits better
- Peanutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, butter, pepper. 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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