Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Boiled Cornstarch Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Dissolve the cornstarch in a small portion of the milk.
Add the beaten eggs and salt to the cornstarch mixture.
Heat the remaining milk to nearly boiling.
Stir in the cornstarch mixture and boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
Set and serve
Pour into a mold or bowl dipped in cold water and let cool.
Once cooled, turn out onto a dish and serve with cream and sugar.
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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk into a firm, sliceable pudding as it boils.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help the pudding set with a softer, custard-like body.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the base of the pudding and provides its creamy liquid.
The step that matters
Stirring while the mixture boils. Cornstarch settles and scorches on the bottom of the pan if left unstirred. Constant stirring keeps heat even and lets the starch swell evenly for a smooth, thick result.
“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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