Name: Maltese Rice Pudding
Ingredients: ½ cup long grain rice; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/4 tsp. salt; pinch nutmeg; 2 cups milk; 2/3 cup water; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; ½ tsp. vanilla (optional); 1/3 cup raisins

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 ↓

Maltese Rice Pudding

Oven300 °F, then 250 °F

Timeabout 1 hour, then 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 300 °F. Lightly grease a 1 ½‑quart baking dish.

Bake

Mix everything except raisins and place in baking dish.
Bake uncovered about 1 hour.
Stir in raisins, dust top lightly with cinnamon, reduce heat to 250 °F.
Bake for another 30 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

592Calories

13 gProtein

21 gFat

87 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Milk + buttertop 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).

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

Long grain rice: Starch that softens and thickens the pudding as it bakes in the milk.
Milk: Liquid that cooks the rice and, with its milk solids, gives the pudding a creamy body.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly on top.
Raisins: Add pockets of chewy sweetness scattered through the baked pudding.

Swap the vanilla

The recipe marks vanilla as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, sugar, nutmeg, milk, butter, raisin):

Vanillathe original
Coconutfits about as well
Figfits about as well
Lemonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, sugar, nutmeg, milk, butter, raisin. 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.