Name: Sweet and Sour Chicken I
Ingredients: 5 tbsp butter; ¾ cup ketchup; ½ cup white vinegar; ¾ cup brown sugar; 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 2 cloves garlic, minced; salt and pepper; 1½ cups chicken broth; 6 chicken breast halves, boneless, skinned

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 Chicken I

Time6 to 8 hours on low

Ingredients

Directions

Cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
Add pineapple chunks during the last half hour.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

360Calories

34 gProtein

15 gFat

21 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,090 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ketchup + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps create the sticky, caramelized glaze.
White vinegar: Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the sauce.
Ketchup: Provides tomato sweetness, acidity and body to the sauce.
Chicken breast halves: Main protein that becomes tender during long, slow cooking.
Butter: Adds richness and fat that rounds out the sauce.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, sauce, clove, pepper):

Allspicefits better
Cinnamonfits better
Tarragonfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, sauce, clove, pepper. 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.