Name: Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients: Ingredients A:; 2 chicken breasts; 2 tsp light soya sauce; 2 tsp sherry; 1 cm fresh ginger, crushed; salt to taste; Ingredients B:; 2 eggs, beaten; 1 tbsp flour; 1 tbsp cornflour; salt to taste; Ingredients C:; 1/2 cup water; 1/4 cup sugar; 1/4 cup vinegar; 1 tbsp cornflour; 1 tsp soya sauce; 1 tbsp tomato ketchup; 1 small tomato, cut into wedges; salt and pepper to taste.; For garnish: Cucumber, sliced thinly Red pepper, julienned

Why it works: Sherry and vinegar work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 660 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. 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.

Sherry + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together660 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Chicken + gingertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,494 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Sauce + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Chicken + sherrytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together891 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts: Provides the main protein; cooking until no longer pink makes it safe and tender.
Eggs: Bind the flour and cornflour coating so it adheres to the chicken and fries crisp.
Cornflour: Thickens the sauce as it heats and helps the coating turn crisp when fried.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar and ketchup.
Vinegar: Adds the sour note that gives the sauce its tang.
Tomato ketchup: Adds sweetness, acidity and colour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Deep frying the coated chicken. Oil must be hot enough to brown the coating quickly; if it is too cool, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy, and the chicken may stay undercooked inside. Cooking until the chicken is no longer pink confirms it is done.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, sauce, sherry, egg, flour, sugar, vinegar):

Tarragonfits better
Capersfits about as well
Jalapenofits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, sauce, sherry, egg, flour, sugar, vinegar. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Sweet and Sour Chicken