Name: Rice with Almonds and Dates
Ingredients: 1 cup rice, just cooked; 50 g butter; 50 g almonds, blanched and halved; 8 dates, stoned (they should be fresh, but dried ones will do, if plump); 50 g sultanas; 1 teaspoon rose water (but this can be omitted)

Why it works: Rice and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,456 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Rice with Almonds and Dates

Ingredients

1 cup rice, just cooked
50 g butter
50 g almonds, blanched and halved
8 dates, stoned (they should be fresh, but dried ones will do, if plump)
50 g sultanas
1 teaspoon rose water (but this can be omitted)

Directions

Make the topping

Melt the butter in a frying pan while the rice is standing after cooking.
Add the almonds and stir until they turn golden.
Add the dates and sultanas and cook, stirring, for a few more minutes.
Remove from the stove and mix in the rose water, if used.

Serve

Pile the rice on a dish and arrange the mixture on top of it.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

381Calories

5 gProtein

12 gFat

63 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Date	1 date (24g) medjool	66
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Rose	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Rice + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,456 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Almond + datestop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together217 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,645 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice: Forms the base that carries the buttery almond and fruit topping.
Butter: Fat that carries flavour and gives the almonds a rich, toasted taste as it browns.
Almonds: Toast to golden, adding crunch and a nutty aroma against the soft rice.
Dates: Add concentrated sweetness and a soft, chewy texture.
Sultanas: Add sweetness and chewy moisture that balances the nuttiness.

The step that matters

Stir the almonds until golden. Almonds go from golden to bitter-tasting within moments once they darken too far. Watching colour closely and removing them from heat at the right point keeps the nutty flavour sweet and toasted.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, butter, almond, rose):

Coconutfits better
Vanillafits better
Peachfits better
Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, butter, almond, rose. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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Almond Soup60 recipes

Steamed Rice48 recipes

Rice Griddle Cakes28 recipes

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Rice with Almonds and Dates