Why it works: Sugar and coconut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,742 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Sweet Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix cornstarch and sugar in a bowl.
Add cold water and stir until combined.
Cook
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat over medium heat.
Cook until the sauce is clear and thick.
Remove from heat and stir in coconut butter or olive oil.
Flavor to taste.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Sugar + coconuttop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,742 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body and a glossy, clear finish.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the sauce its body.
- Coconut butter or olive oil
- Adds fat and richness, stirred in off the heat to finish the sauce.
The step that matters
Cook until the sauce is clear and thick. Cornstarch needs to reach a simmer to swell and thicken fully. Stopping early leaves a thin, cloudy sauce, while overcooking can cause it to thin out again.
“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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