Why it works: Chicken and sweetcorn work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 111 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: milk, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
In a large bowl, mix the tomato ketchup, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Chinese five-spice, the first lot of honey, one crushed garlic clove, the thyme leaves and a splash of sunflower oil. Add the chicken wings, toss well, cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange the wings in a single layer on a lined baking tray, roast for about 40 minutes, turning once, until glossy and cooked through to 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part.
Rinse the rice well. Put it in a saucepan, cover with a pan of boiling water, and simmer gently for 12 minutes until tender. Drain, cover and leave to steam for 5 minutes.
Heat a little sunflower oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the drained sweetcorn and fry for 3 minutes, then stir in the cooked rice, salt, black pepper and most of the chopped coriander.
Finely shred the red cabbage, thinly slice the red onion, and finely slice the deseeded red chilli. Toss them together in a bowl with the raisins.
In a small bowl, mix the Greek yoghurt, English mustard, the second lot of honey, the lime zest and juice, and a little salt and pepper. Toss the dressing through the slaw and serve with the wings, rice and the remaining coriander.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Chicken + sweetcorntop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together111 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Chicken + ricetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,569 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Tomato + garlictop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tomato + thymetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,370 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, tomato, ketchup, vinegar, sauce, honey, garlic):
- Gingerabout as good a flavor fit
- Basilabout as good a flavor fit
- Thymethe original
- Celeryabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, tomato, ketchup, vinegar, sauce, honey, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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