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 until the water runs clear.
In a pot, combine the rice and sugar.
Add enough milk to make a total of 1 quart of mixture.
Cook and serve
Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, 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
- Provides the starch and body that make the pudding tender and thick as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the flavour of the milk and rice.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that the rice absorbs while cooking, creating the creamy texture.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring frequently. Milk scorches easily on the bottom of a pot, and the sugar in it can burn. Low heat and frequent stirring spread the heat evenly and keep the rice from sticking while it thickens.
“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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