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Chicken Broth

A clear broth made by simmering chicken pieces, onion, mace, and optional rice in water.

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

  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 back into the pot, bring to a boil again.

  5. Sprinkle in the rice (if using) and simmer for 20 minutes.

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
Its bones, skin and connective tissue release gelatin and flavour into the water as it simmers.
Cold water
Starting in cold water lets the chicken release its flavour gradually as the liquid heats.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the broth during the long simmer.
Rice
Its starch slightly thickens the broth and adds body as it cooks.

The step that matters

Keep the broth at a gentle simmer. Once the broth reaches a boil, reduce the heat. A hard rolling boil emulsifies fat into the liquid and makes the broth cloudy, while a gentle simmer keeps it clear and lets flavour extract slowly.

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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