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Chicken Broth in Cups

A clear broth made by simmering chicken, pearl barley, coriander seed, and lettuce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Coriander and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 455 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Chicken Broth in Cups

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place the chopped chicken in an earthenware pot.

  2. Add pearl barley and coriander seed.

  3. Pour in water and bring to a boil.

  4. Boil for 3 hours, skimming frequently.

Finish and serve

  1. Add lettuce leaves, cover the pot, and remove from heat.

  2. Let it stand for 20 minutes.

  3. Strain through a cloth or fine sieve 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.

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. Coriander + lettucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together455 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Barley + lettucetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together33 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Chicken + barleytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together265 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Barley + coriandertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34 recipes

    Shared aroma: 5-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-2(5h)-furanone (spice).

  5. Chicken + coriandertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,751 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

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

What each ingredient does

Whole chicken
Provides the main meat flavor and gelatin-rich body as it simmers.
Pearl barley
Adds body and a mild starchy thickness to the broth.
Coriander seed
Adds a warm, citrusy aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming during the 3-hour boil. Foam and fat rise to the surface as the broth simmers. Skimming them regularly keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy or cloudy result.

Swap the coriander

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, barley, lettuce):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Corianderthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, barley, lettuce. 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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