Skip to main content
Main

Vegetable Pilaf

A rice dish cooked with butter, shallot, green onions, carrot, snow peas, mushrooms, white wine, and stock, finished with sesame seeds.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Shallot and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Vegetable Pilaf

Timeabout 25 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rice

  1. Soak rice for 2 hours to shorten cooking time.

  2. Rinse and drain the rice.

Cook the pilaf

  1. Heat butter in a medium-size non-stick saucepan.

  2. Saute the shallot until softened.

  3. Add the vegetables and saute about 3 minutes.

  4. Add the rice to the vegetables, stirring to coat.

  5. Cook for about 2 minutes.

  6. Stir in the wine broth and bring to a boil.

  7. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 25 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

  8. Remove from heat and fluff the rice with a fork.

  9. Season with salt and pepper.

  10. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

657Calories
44 gProtein
16 gFat
78 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Toasted Sesame Seednot in our table0

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.

  1. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  3. Shallot + peastop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together173 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Long-grain rice
Forms the bulk of the dish; its starch sets the body of the pilaf as it absorbs the stock.
Butter
Adds fat for flavour and helps coat the rice grains so they stay separate.
Shallot
Softens into a mild sweetness that builds the base flavour of the pilaf.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the stock and vegetables.
Chicken/vegetable stock
Provides the cooking liquid that the rice absorbs, delivering moisture and savoury flavour.
Mushrooms
Contribute savoury, earthy flavour and a tender texture to the pilaf.

The step that matters

Simmering with the lid on. Once the stock is added, the rice must cook covered over low heat so steam finishes the grains evenly. Lifting the lid lets steam escape, which can leave the rice unevenly cooked or dry.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, butter, shallot, onion, peas, mushroom, white wine):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, butter, shallot, onion, peas, mushroom, white wine. 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.

You might also like

Chicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipesGreen PeasGreen Peas229 recipesChicken SoupChicken Soup156 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipes