Why it works: Chicken and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,241 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Chicken Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Pass the meat through a mincing machine and pound it in a mortar.
Add the egg and season well, then rub the mixture through a sieve.
Whip the cream slightly and stir the meat into it.
Steam and serve
Place the mixture in a well-buttered mold and steam gently for 30 minutes.
Turn onto a hot dish and serve with white sauce poured over.
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 + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,241 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,991 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raw chicken or veal
- Provides the main body and structure of the cream once cooked.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture soft and smooth.
- Egg
- Helps bind the minced meat so it sets firm when steamed.
The step that matters
Steam gently. Gentle steaming heats the mixture evenly so the egg sets into a smooth, tender custard. Fast boiling or high heat can cause the mixture to toughen, curdle, or form holes.
“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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