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Sweet and Sour Sauce

A tangy sauce made with vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, peppers, honey or sugar, salt, pineapple, water, and thickened with cornstarch.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Honey and pineapple work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 262 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Timeat least 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients except cornstarch in saucepan.

  2. Bring to boil, then turn heat down to simmer.

  3. Stir occasionally and cook for at least 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

  4. Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of water.

  5. Add the dissolved cornstarch to the sauce, stirring until thickened.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

693Calories
16 gProtein
2 gFat
154 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
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. Honey + pineappletop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together262 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Vinegar + honeytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,586 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Pepper + pineappletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together533 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Vinegar + pineappletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together411 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Vinegar
Adds the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness of the honey or sugar.
Catsup
Provides tomato body, sweetness and colour to the sauce.
Honey or brown sugar
Supplies the sweetness that gives the sauce its sweet-sour balance.
Cornstarch
Thickens the simmering liquid into a glossy sauce as its starch gelatinises with heat.

The step that matters

Adding the dissolved cornstarch. Cornstarch must be fully dissolved in cold water before it goes into the hot sauce, otherwise it clumps. The sauce only thickens once it is hot enough for the starch granules to swell and gelatinise, so keep stirring while it sets.

Swap the pineapple

The recipe marks pineapple as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sauce, pepper, honey):

  1. Mangofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Grapefits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sauce, pepper, honey. 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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