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Chicken Broth

A clear broth made by simmering chicken pieces, onion, mace, and optional rice, finished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Chicken Broth

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Chicken Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chicken

  1. Cut the chicken into small pieces and break the bones.

  2. Scald and skin the feet and gizzard, then wash the neck and liver.

Make the broth

  1. Place the chicken parts in a large pot, add the cold water and salt, and bring to a boil.

  2. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.

  3. Add the onion and mace, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 hours.

  4. Strain the broth and return it to the pot.

  5. Bring the broth back to a boil, sprinkle in the rice, and simmer for 20 minutes.

  6. Stir in the parsley, season with pepper, and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,769 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  3. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the meat, bones and skin that release flavor and gelatin into the broth.
Rice
Thickens the broth slightly as its starch softens during simmering.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the broth as it simmers.

The step that matters

Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.. Foam carries impurities from the bones and meat that cloud the broth and can taste bitter. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-flavored.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, parsley, rice, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, parsley, rice, 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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