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Southern Rice

Rice sautéed with butter, onion, stock, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Southern Rice

Ingredients

Directions

Boil and steam the rice

  1. Wash the rice through several waters and rub between the hands to remove the floury coating.

  2. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a violent boil on the hottest part of the stove.

  3. Throw in the rice slowly and let it boil rapidly uncovered for fifteen or twenty minutes.

  4. Drain off as much water as possible, season with a little more salt, and set on the side of the range.

  5. Cover the saucepan with a thin cloth or old napkin and allow it to steam perfectly dry.

Make the onion base

  1. Peel and mince finely one small onion.

  2. Melt a piece of butter the size of an egg in a saucepan.

  3. Fry the onion in the butter until it begins to brown.

Finish the rice

  1. Add the well-washed rice to the saucepan.

  2. Fry the rice for five minutes, watching carefully.

  3. Add enough stock to boil the rice — about one quart.

  4. Season with a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper.

  5. When the rice is thoroughly done, add a cupful of grated Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

666Calories
22 gProtein
38 gFat
58 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Colville, Jessie Henderson. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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.

  1. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Parmesan cheese + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together879 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + ricetop 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

Rice
Forms the bulk of the dish, absorbing liquid to become tender and fluffy.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and helping the onion brown.
Onion
Adds savoury sweetness and aroma as it browns in the butter.
Parmesan cheese
Melts into the hot rice, adding salty, savoury flavour and body.

The step that matters

Steam the rice perfectly dry. Excess surface water left on the cooked rice makes it soggy and sticky. Draining well and steaming under a cloth lets moisture escape so the grains stay separate.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, pepper, parmesan cheese, rice):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, pepper, parmesan cheese, rice. 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.

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