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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rinse the rice under cold water.
In a pot, combine the rice, sugar, and enough milk to make 1 quart of mixture.
Cook and serve
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and the mixture thickens.
Serve warm or chilled.
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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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk 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
- Softens as it cooks, forming the bulk of the pudding's body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the pudding.
- Milk
- Cooks with the rice to form the creamy liquid that thickens the pudding.
The step that matters
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Milk and sugar can scorch on the bottom of the pot if heat is too high or the mixture is left unstirred. Gentle heat with regular stirring lets the rice soften evenly and the starch thicken the milk smoothly.
“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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