Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fish Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine melted butter, vinegar, tomato ketchup, salt, and prepared mustard.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tomato + mustardtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + tomatotop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,063 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Ketchup + mustardtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together331 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Vinegar + ketchuptop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the sauce a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness of the ketchup.
- Tomato ketchup
- Contributes sweetness, tomato flavour and body to the sauce.
- Prepared mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour and helps emulsify the sauce.
The step that matters
Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Boiling reduces the liquid and concentrates the flavours. Stirring prevents the butter and vinegar from separating and the sugars in the ketchup from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, vinegar, ketchup, mustard):
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Radishfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, vinegar, ketchup, mustard. 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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