Name: Kokosrijst I
Ingredients: 300 g rice; 1 onion, chopped; 360 ml coconut milk; 2 tomatoes, cut in small bits; ½ green Chile pepper, or ¼ stripped of zaadjes and chopped tea spoon Chile powder; oil; salt

Why it works: Rice and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,063 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Kokosrijst I

Time10–15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

First cook the rice for 10–15 minutes, until it is exactly cooked. Drain.
While the rice cooks, heat oil and fry the onion until soft. Then add the green chili pepper or chili powder.
Add the tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan, simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

680Calories

9 gProtein

41 gFat

71 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Tea	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 + coconuttop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,063 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,065 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Rice: Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the coconut milk as it cooks.
Coconut milk: Adds richness and fat, giving the rice a creamy, flavourful texture.
Onion: Softens and sweetens as it fries, building the base flavour of the dish.
Tomatoes: Add acidity and moisture that soften into the sauce as they simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, coconut, milk, tomato, pepper):

Capsicumfits better
Potatofits better
Sweet potatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, coconut, milk, tomato, 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.