Name: Rice and Crab Romanoff
Ingredients: 2 cups hot cooked rice; 1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese; 1 2-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained; 2 tablespoons chopped chives; 1/4 cup sour cream; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper; 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 8 ounces crab meat; paprika

Why it works: Cottage cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 213 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.

Cottage cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together213 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,199 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Rice + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,515 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together553 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Rice + chivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together241 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Crab meat: Provides the main seafood flavor and tender, flaky body to the casserole.
Cottage cheese: Adds moisture and creaminess that keeps the rice mixture from drying out.
Sour cream: Adds tang and moisture, keeping the filling creamy when baked.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and richness, helping the filling stay smooth and moist.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory flavor and helps the top brown as it bakes.
Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the casserole and soaks up the creamy dressing.

The step that matters

Fold in the crab meat gently. Crab meat is delicate, and vigorous stirring breaks it into shreds and mushy pieces. Gentle folding keeps larger lumps intact so the casserole has a better texture.

Swap the chive

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, cottage cheese, mushroom, cream, parmesan cheese, pepper, sauce):

Spinachfits better
Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Chivethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, cottage cheese, mushroom, cream, parmesan cheese, pepper, 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Chives	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0

Rice and Crab Romanoff