Name: Ken Hom's Stir-fried Chicken with Chillies & Basil
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 450g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks; 3 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic; 3 tbsp finely sliced shallots; 3 fresh green or red chillies , seeded and finely shredded; 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla); 2 tsp dark soy sauce; 2 tsp sugar; a large handful of Thai or ordinary basil leaves

Why it works: Garlic and basil are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,805 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Ken Hom's Stir-fried Chicken with Chillies & Basil

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
450g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
3 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
3 tbsp finely sliced shallots
3 fresh green or red chillies , seeded and finely shredded
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
a large handful of Thai or ordinary basil leaves

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

391Calories

33 gProtein

17 gFat

25 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Garlic + basiltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,805 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + shallottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,000 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,850 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Shallot + basiltop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together473 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sauce + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, sauce, sugar):

Capersfits better
Gingerfits better
Turmericfits better
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, sauce, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.