Name: Hawaiian Barbecued Pork Ribs
Ingredients: 3 lbs pork ribs, cut into 3 rib sections; 1/2 cup sea salt; 4 cloves garlic, chopped; 3 inches ginger, sliced thick; 2 green onions, sliced thick; 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes; 2 (15 ounces) cans tomato sauce; 2 cups packed brown sugar; 1/2 cup white vinegar; 1/2 cup honey; 2 cups minced yellow onions; 2 teaspoons liquid smoke; 2 teaspoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper; 2 tablespoons A-1 Steak Sauce or HP steak sauce; 1 teaspoon dry mustard; 3 inches cinnamon sticks; 1 cup crushed pineapple, canned with juice; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 tablespoon minced ginger

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,402 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork ribs: The main cut, which becomes tender through long, gentle simmering.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the sauce caramelize into a sticky glaze on the grill.
Honey: Adds sweetness and a sticky texture that helps the glaze cling and brown.
Tomato sauce: Forms the body of the sauce and adds savory depth and mild acidity.
White vinegar: Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the sugar and honey.
Minced yellow onions: Adds aroma and body to the sauce as it simmers.

The step that matters

Baste frequently on the grill. Sugary glazes burn over direct heat, so brushing thin layers repeatedly builds a coating that caramelizes rather than charring.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, garlic, ginger, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce):

Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, garlic, ginger, onion, pepper, tomato, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Pineapple	1 cup chunks (165g)	82
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Smoke	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Hawaiian Barbecued Pork Ribs