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Sauce

Bar-B-Que Marinade

A soy sauce-based barbecue sauce for marinating beef, chicken, or pork.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove 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 ↓

Bar-B-Que Marinade

Time1-2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the marinade

  1. Boil soy sauce, sugar, and ginger until sugar is dissolved. Be careful not to let mixture boil over.

  2. Remove from heat. While mixture is cooling off, add remaining ingredients.

Marinate

  1. Marinate beef brisket for at least 1-2 hours (longer is better). Beef can be substituted with chicken or pork.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

372Calories
29 gProtein
16 gFat
28 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2

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. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

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

  5. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Soy sauce
Provides salt and savory depth, and helps flavor the meat as it marinates.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the marinade brown the surface of the meat.
Beef brisket
The main protein that absorbs the marinade and becomes tender during cooking.
Onion
Adds aroma and savory flavor to the marinade.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma and savory flavor to the marinade.

The step that matters

Boil the soy sauce and sugar carefully. Sugar-rich mixtures can boil over or scorch quickly, and the sugar must fully dissolve so the marinade blends evenly and coats the meat.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Corianderfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, sugar, ginger, onion, garlic, pepper, beef. 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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