Why it works: Tomato and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,065 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Rice and Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the base
Cook the tomatoes and water together in a pot.
In a separate pan, brown the onion in the butter.
Remove the onion from the butter and add it to the tomatoes and water.
Make the roux and simmer
Mix the flour with the remaining butter in the pan and cook until smooth and frothy.
Add the flour mixture to the tomato mixture along with the rice, salt, and pepper.
Simmer slowly for 30 minutes, then strain over the rice.
Cook slowly for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Serve very hot.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Tomato + ricetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity and flavor of the soup.
- Rice
- Thickens the soup and adds body as it cooks.
- Butter
- Carries the browned onion flavor and adds richness.
- Flour
- Cooked into a roux to thicken the soup smoothly.
- Onion
- Browned in butter to add sweetness and savory depth.
The step that matters
Cooking the flour mixture until smooth and frothy. Flour added without cooking it enough can leave raw starch taste and lumps. Cooking it briefly in fat, then stirring it into the liquid, helps it dissolve evenly and thicken the soup smoothly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, rice, butter, pepper, flour):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Okrabetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, rice, butter, pepper, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Rice Fritters84 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.