I read a source code in kibana:
  <ul
    ng-show="(popularFields | filter:filter.isFieldFiltered).length > 0"
    ng-class="{ 'hidden-sm': !showFields, 'hidden-xs': !showFields }"
    class="list-unstyled sidebar-well discover-popular-fields">
    <li class="sidebar-item sidebar-list-header">
      <h6>Popular</h6>
    </li>
    <discover-field
      ng-repeat="field in popularFields | filter:filter.isFieldFiltered"
      field="field"
      on-add-field="onAddField"
      on-add-filter="onAddFilter"
      on-remove-field="onRemoveField"
      on-show-details="computeDetails"
    >
    </discover-field>
  </ul>
where is the popularFields be assigned value, i do not found it:
➜   grep popularFields -r .
./core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/components/field_chooser/field_chooser.html:    ng-show="(popularFields | filter:filter.isFieldFiltered).length > 0"
./core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/components/field_chooser/field_chooser.html:      ng-repeat="field in popularFields | filter:filter.isFieldFiltered"
./core_plugins/kibana/public/discover/components/field_chooser/field_chooser.html:      ng-repeat="field in unpopularFields | filter:filter.isFieldFiltered"