Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Jujube Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Pound and dissolve the gum Senegal in enough orange-flower water to leave a sediment.
Place the mixture over low heat and stir until it reaches a paste-like consistency.
Clarify the loaf sugar and boil it until it reaches a soft ball stage.
Add the boiled sugar to the paste and mix well.
Return the mixture to very low heat and dry it to a good consistency.
Mold and cut
Pour the paste into tin molds about ¼ inch thick and place them in a warm area.
Once dry, remove the paste from the molds and cut it into small pieces or desired shapes.
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.
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Gum senegal
- Forms the gel structure that sets the paste firm once dried.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and body, and boiling it to soft ball stage helps the paste set.
The step that matters
Returning the mixture to very low heat to dry it. Gum-based pastes can scorch or turn grainy if overheated, while too little drying leaves them soft and sticky. Gentle, controlled heat lets the mixture thicken evenly to a firm, workable consistency.
“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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