Name: Rice Almondine with Mushrooms
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sliced almonds; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained; 3 cups cooked rice; salt and ground black pepper to taste

Why it works: Almond and rice 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 Almondine with Mushrooms

Ingredients

1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
3 cups cooked rice
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Cook almonds in butter in large skillet until golden.
Stir in mushrooms, rice, salt and pepper, then heat thoroughly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

336Calories

7 gProtein

13 gFat

49 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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.

Almond + ricetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,456 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Mushroom + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,515 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 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

Sliced almonds: Toast in butter to add nutty flavor and golden color to the dish.
Butter or margarine: Carries the heat for toasting the almonds and adds richness to the rice.
Sliced mushrooms: Add moisture and savory earthy flavor to the rice.
Cooked rice: Forms the base of the dish and absorbs the butter and mushroom flavors.

The step that matters

Cook almonds in butter until golden. Almonds go from golden to bitter and burnt within moments, so watch closely and remove them from heat as soon as they are evenly golden.

Swap the almond

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

Beansfits better
Sesamefits better
Soybeanfits about as well
Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, mushroom, rice, pepper. 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.

Rice Fritters84 recipes

Almond Soup60 recipes

Mushroom Soup60 recipes

Steamed Rice48 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Rice Almondine with Mushrooms