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Sauce

Ponzu

A citrus-based soy sauce condiment made with rice vinegar, lemon juice, water, toasted sesame oil, and grated ginger.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 984 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Ponzu

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put all ingredients in a jar and shake well.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

265Calories
1 gProtein
27 gFat
5 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Waternot in our table0

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

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Rice + sesametop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together984 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

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

  4. Lemon + sesametop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Rice + gingertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,196 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the salty soy.
Lemon juice
Adds sharp citrus acidity that gives the sauce its fresh, tangy character.
Toasted sesame oil
Adds fat and a rich, nutty aroma to the sauce.
Soy sauce
Provides savory saltiness and deep umami flavor as the sauce's base.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, rice, vinegar, sesame, ginger):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Avocadofits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, rice, vinegar, sesame, ginger. 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.

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