Name: Chili Sauce for Hot Dogs and Such Recipe
Yield: 1 1/2 qt
Ingredients: 1/2 pound ground beef (cheap, fatty stuff 70-80% fat); 1 tablespoon animal fat (butter or bacon grease or lard; yes, you may substitute vegetable oil of any variety); 2 tablespoons flour; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 1/2 cups water; 1 1/2 tablespoon vinegar (any variety you want); 2 tablespoon chili powder (any variety you want); 2 tablespoon bottled BBQ sauce (any variety you want); 1 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

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.

Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + cocoa powdertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,244 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + cocoa powdertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Animal	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

Chili Sauce for Hot Dogs and Such Recipe