Name: Sweet and Sour Sauce II
Ingredients: 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar; 4 TB brown sugar; 1 TB ketchup; 1 tsp soy sauce; 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water

Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Sweet and Sour Sauce II

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot.
Mix together the cornstarch and water.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the other ingredients and stir to thicken.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

538Calories

15 gProtein

1 gFat

114 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Water	not in our table	0

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.

Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + ketchuptop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Rice + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,396 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Rice + ketchuptop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together146 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

White or rice vinegar: Provides the sour, acidic flavour that balances the sweetness.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a deeper, molasses-like flavour to the sauce.
Ketchup: Adds tomato sweetness, acidity and body to the sauce.
Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce as its starch swells and gelatinises when heated.

The step that matters

Adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be stirred into the simmering liquid so it disperses evenly. Added to cold liquid or left unstirred, it clumps, and the sauce thickens unevenly.

“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.

Wine Sauce (for stewed fruit)186 recipes

Caper Sauce180 recipes

Brown Sauce141 recipes

Dutch Sauce74 recipes

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Sweet and Sour Sauce II