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 the filling
Cook the rice until tender.
In a bowl, mix the cooked rice with sugar.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and combine with sugar and flour.
Add enough milk to make a total of 1 quart of mixture.
Combine all ingredients and pour into a baking dish.
Bake
Bake until set and lightly golden.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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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).
Flour and milk 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
- Eggs
- Set the custard as their proteins coagulate when heated, binding the pudding together.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that keeps the pudding moist and creamy.
- Rice
- Forms the body of the pudding, giving it a soft, substantial texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the egg and milk mixture, helping it hold its shape when baked.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and supports gentle browning on the surface during baking.
The step that matters
Bake until set and lightly golden. Egg proteins firm as the custard heats. Underbaking leaves it runny, while overbaking can make the eggs curdle and weep, so watch for a set center.
“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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