Name: Orange Mint Rice Salad
Ingredients: 3 oranges; 3 cups cooked rice; 1/3 cup golden raisins; 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves; 1/2 cup chopped walnuts; salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Rice and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 430 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Orange Mint Rice Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Peel and segment two oranges; set aside.
Squeeze juice from remaining orange; set aside.

Combine and serve

In a large bowl, combine rice, orange segments, raisins, mint, and walnuts.
Add orange juice; toss well.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

362Calories

7 gProtein

4 gFat

78 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Peppermint	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 + walnuttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Orange + minttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together549 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Mint + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,372 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Orange + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,402 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,379 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

Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the salad and absorbs the orange juice, giving a moist, tender base.
Oranges: Supply juice and segments that add moisture, bright sweetness and acidity.
Fresh mint leaves: Adds a cool, aromatic herbal note that lifts the sweet citrus.
Walnuts: Add crunch and a toasty, fatty richness that contrasts with the soft rice.
Golden raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (orange, rice, mint, walnut, pepper):

Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Mangofits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against orange, rice, mint, walnut, 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.