Name: Crock Pot Chinese Pork Ribs
Ingredients: ¼ cup soy sauce; ⅓ cup orange marmalade; 3 tbsp ketchup; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 3 to 4 lbs bone-in country-style pork ribs

Why it works: Sauce and ketchup 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 ↓

Crock Pot Chinese Pork Ribs

Time6 hours on low

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a bowl, combine soy sauce, marmalade, ketchup and garlic.
Pour half into a slow cooker.
Top with ribs; drizzle with remaining sauce.

Cook

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until tender.
Thicken cooking juices if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

339Calories

30 gProtein

14 gFat

22 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4

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.

Sauce + ketchuptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,987 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Garlic + clovetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + porktop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,169 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Clove + porktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,515 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork ribs: Bone-in country-style ribs are the main protein that becomes tender during long, slow cooking.
Orange marmalade: Adds sweetness and fruity acidity that balances the salty soy sauce.
Soy sauce: Provides salty, savory flavor that seasons the meat as it cooks.
Ketchup: Adds sweetness, tomato acidity and body to the sauce.

The step that matters

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until tender. Low, moist heat over a long time breaks down connective tissue in the ribs, making them tender. Cooking too briefly or on high heat can leave the meat tough or dry, so check for tenderness before serving.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, ketchup, garlic, clove, pork):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, ketchup, garlic, clove, pork. 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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Roast Pork82 recipes

Tomato Soup526 recipes

Brown Bread461 recipes

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Crock Pot Chinese Pork Ribs