Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Rice Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the soft boiled rice and milk.
Add the egg yolks, flour, and salt, and mix until well combined.
Shape and fry
Shape the mixture into cakes.
Fry the cakes in a lightly greased skillet over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
What each ingredient does
- Soft boiled rice
- Forms the bulk and body of the cakes, giving them a substantial, starchy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softens the rice so the mixture holds together.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and add richness, helping the cakes set and hold their shape.
- Flour
- Absorbs moisture and helps the cakes bind so they keep their shape while frying.
The step that matters
Frying over medium heat. Medium heat lets the centre of each cake set while the outside turns golden. Too high a heat browns the surface before the inside is cooked through and can make the cakes break or burn.
“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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