Why it works: Sugar and ketchup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 260 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Hump Steaks and Onion Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the steaks as desired.
In a stewpan, heat the dripping over low heat and add the sliced onions and sugar.
Stir until the onions are browned, then gradually add the flour.
Pour in the broth (or hot water) and season with pepper and salt.
Let it boil gently until the onions are soft, then strain the mixture through a sieve.
In the same stewpan, heat a little dripping and add another finely chopped onion.
Stir until hot and browned, then add the strained sauce and ketchup.
Bring to a boil and serve with the steaks.
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.
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 + ketchuptop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + ketchuptop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, pepper, ketchup):
- Capsicumfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, pepper, ketchup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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