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 ↓
Cranberry and Rice Jeixt
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Boil the cranberries and press them to extract the juice.
Gradually mix the juice into the ground rice until it thickens to a jelly consistency.
Boil gently while stirring, and sweeten to taste.
Pour into a basin or mold and let it set.
Serve
Serve with milk or cream.
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
- Cranberries
- Provide the tart juice that gives the jelly its flavor and color.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the cranberry juice as it cooks, letting the mixture set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the cranberry juice.
The step that matters
Mixing the juice into the ground rice. Adding the juice gradually keeps the ground rice from clumping, so it thickens evenly. Stirring during the gentle boil keeps the starch dispersed and prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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