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Chicken Cream

A steamed chicken custard made with chicken, béchamel, cream, egg, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Chicken Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Chop the chicken finely and pound it in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Gradually add the egg and Béchamel sauce, mixing well.

  3. Pass the mixture through a wire sieve.

  4. Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold it into the chicken mixture.

  5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Steam and serve

  1. Turn the mixture into 1 large or 6-7 small buttered molds.

  2. Steam gently until firm: about 50 minutes for 1 mold or 25 minutes for small molds.

  3. Serve with Béchamel or another suitable sauce.

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. Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Chicken + saucetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Chicken + creamtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Chicken
Forms the main body of the custard and sets to a firm, tender texture when steamed.
Egg
Binds the mixture and helps it set firm during gentle cooking.
Béchamel sauce
Adds moisture and smoothness, keeping the custard soft rather than dry.
Double cream
Adds richness and a light texture when whipped and folded in.

The step that matters

Steam gently until firm. High heat or boiling water can make the egg proteins tighten quickly, producing a curdled, rubbery custard. Gentle steam sets it evenly and keeps it smooth.

“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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