Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,099 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the sauce
Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté garlic, onion, pepper and TVP.
In a bowl, mix tomato paste with water, oregano, ketchup, cayenne, worcestershire sauce and honey.
Stir the mixture into the skillet.
Bring to a boil and add salt if desired.
The sauce should be thick but spreadable.
Assemble
If desired, toast the rolls.
Spoon the sauce over the bottom half of each roll, pile on the lettuce, and top with the remaining roll half.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,767 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tvp granules or flakes
- Provides a meaty texture and absorbs the liquid as it hydrates in the sauce.
- Tomato paste
- Concentrates the tomato flavour and thickens the sauce.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness and tang that balances the tomato paste.
- Onion
- Builds a savoury sweet base as it softens and browns in the oil.
- Garlic
- Adds aroma and savoury depth to the base.
- Honey
- Adds sweetness and helps the sauce brown slightly as it simmers.
The step that matters
Thickening the sauce. The TVP keeps absorbing liquid as it hydrates, so the sauce can turn dry or stiff if it is over-simmered. Simmer until it is thick but still spreadable, then adjust with a little water if needed.
Flavor stand-ins for the oregano
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, onion, pepper, tomato, ketchup, sauce):
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Celerybetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Oreganothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, onion, pepper, tomato, ketchup, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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