Why it works: Rice and sherry work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 572 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓
Rice-water
Ingredients
Directions
Make the rice water
Pick over and wash the rice.
Put the rice into a granite saucepan with boiling water.
Simmer for 2 hours until the rice is softened and partially dissolved.
Strain the liquid through a fine wire strainer into a bowl or pitcher.
Season and serve
Add salt and serve warm or cold.
If desired, add sherry or port wine.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + sherrytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together572 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Breaks down during simmering to release starch, giving the liquid body and a mild thickness.
- Sherry or port wine
- Adds a light sweetness and aroma to the finished liquid.
The step that matters
Simmer for 2 hours until the rice is softened and partially dissolved. Simmering must be gentle and long enough for the grains to soften and release starch. Too little time leaves the liquid thin, while a hard boil can cloud it and break the grains unevenly.
“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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