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 ↓
To Boil Rice
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.
Cook the rice
Wash the rice well in cold water.
Bring plenty of water to a boil and add the rice.
Boil for 20 minutes, then drain through a colander.
Set the colander over a saucepan to keep it hot.
Make the dessert and serve
For dessert, cool the rice after draining, then add rich milk, wine or brandy, sugar, and nutmeg.
Serve very cold.
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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Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + winetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,116 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the dish, softening as it boils and absorbing liquid.
- Rich milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the cooled rice for the dessert version.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the dessert version.
The step that matters
Boil for 20 minutes, then drain. Rice cooked in plenty of boiling water must be timed carefully; too little time leaves the grains firm at the centre, while overcooking turns them soft and mushy. Draining promptly stops the cooking so the grains stay separate.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, wine, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits about as well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, wine, sugar. 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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