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Rice Gruel

A thin porridge of ground rice boiled in water and flavoured with cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Rice Gruel

Why it works: Cinnamon and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,137 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Rice Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of ground rice to 1 quart water.

  2. Boil gently for 20 minutes.

  3. When nearly done, add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

  4. Strain and sweeten slightly.

  5. Wine is sometimes added.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

212Calories
4 gProtein
0 gFat
47 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Waternot in our table0

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

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cinnamon + ricetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground rice
Its starch thickens the water as it cooks, giving the gruel body.
Ground cinnamon
Adds warm, aromatic flavor to the gruel.

The step that matters

Boiling gently for 20 minutes. Gentle heat lets the rice starch swell and thicken evenly, while a hard boil can scorch the bottom of the pan or break up the grains and leave the texture uneven.

“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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