Name: President Grant's Rice Pudding
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 3 cups hot cooked rice; 4 eggs, separated; 1/2 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 2 cups half and half; 2 cups milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; Lemon Sauce:; 1/2 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1 cup boiling water; 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel; 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. 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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,352 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Egg yolks enrich the custard, and whipped whites lighten it so it rises and sets softly.
Rice: Cooked rice forms the body of the pudding, absorbing the custard as it bakes.
Half and half: Adds fat and richness, giving the pudding a smooth, creamy texture.
Milk: Supplies liquid that sets with the eggs into a tender custard.
Sugar: Sweetens the pudding and helps keep the custard tender.
Cornstarch: Thickens the lemon sauce as it cooks, giving it a smooth body.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff but not dry trap air that lifts the custard. Overbeaten whites turn grainy and collapse, leaving a dense pudding.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, rice, egg, sugar, milk, vanilla, sauce):

Coconutfits better
Figfits better
Peachfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, rice, egg, sugar, milk, vanilla, sauce. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

President Grant's Rice Pudding