Name: White Sweet Potatoes with Mirin and Honey
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 large white sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total); 1/2 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine); 2 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons corn oil; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; Coarse sea salt (preferably Maldon); Mirin is available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Japanese markets.

Why it works: Sweet potato and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 153 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

White Sweet Potatoes with Mirin and Honey

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 large white sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total)
1/2 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons corn oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse sea salt (preferably Maldon)
Mirin is available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Japanese markets.

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

638Calories

12 gProtein

13 gFat

117 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Corn Oil	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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

By epicurious. 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.

Sweet potato + corntop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together153 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Honey + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,586 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Honey + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,327 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,345 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Sweet potato + honeytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together124 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Swap the sweet potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice wine, honey, vinegar, corn, butter):

Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits better
Potatofits better
Sweet potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice wine, honey, vinegar, corn, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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