Name: Vegetable Rice Balls
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked rice; 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; 1 9-ounce envelope vegetable soup mix; 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 3 eggs, slightly beaten; 3 cups hot cooked rice; 1 teaspoon oregano; 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp; 3 cups hot cooked rice; grated Parmesan cheese (optional); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper; 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided; 1/4 cup dry white wine; 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Why it works: Mozzarella cheese and romano cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 62 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

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.

Mozzarella cheese + romano cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together62 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Pepper + oreganotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,449 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Oregano + horseradishtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together65 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,646 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together382 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture so the rice balls hold their shape while baking.
Mozzarella cheese: Melts into the mixture, adding moisture and helping bind the balls together.
Bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and add a little structure to the shaped balls.
Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the balls, providing body and a starchy base that binds with the eggs.
Romano cheese: Adds a salty, sharp flavour and helps the surface brown.

The step that matters

Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls. The mixture must be firm enough to hold its shape. Balls of even size bake at the same rate, so they cook through without drying at the edges.

Swap the horseradish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, mozzarella cheese, bread, romano cheese, pepper, egg, oregano):

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Horseradishthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, mozzarella cheese, bread, romano cheese, pepper, egg, oregano. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Romano Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Swiss Cheese	1 oz (28g)	108
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
White Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Soup	not in our table	0
Horseradish	not in our table	0

Vegetable Rice Balls