Why it works: Rice and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,139 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Rinse the brown rice, then combine it with the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 45 minutes until tender and the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery, and mushrooms and cook 5 to 6 minutes until softened, then stir in the curry powder for 30 seconds.
Toast the cashews in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until lightly golden. Set aside to cool.
Warm the julienned ham in a small pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until heated through. Ham is already cooked, so heating through is enough.
In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, lime juice, lime zest, and sugar until smooth to make the dressing.
Spread the cooked rice on a tray to cool for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl.
Add the cooled vegetable mixture, warm ham, Swiss cheese cubes, cashews, and the chopped kiwi to the rice and toss gently.
Fold in the dressing, then top with the sliced kiwi just before serving. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Rice + celerytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,139 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Celery + limetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together305 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + celerytop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together18,506 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Rice + oniontop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,990 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + yogurttop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,321 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the lime
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, butter, onion, celery, yogurt, sugar, ham):
- Applebetter flavor fit
- Coconutbetter flavor fit
- Grapebetter flavor fit
- Limethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, butter, onion, celery, yogurt, sugar, ham. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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