Why it works: Rice and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 851 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
1. Preparation of Breakfast Cereal.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Measure the cereal and water, and put the water into the inner part of the double boiler with the salt.
Have the lower part of the double boiler about half full of hot water.
Place the inner boiler directly upon the stove or over the flame.
Make the porridge
When the water is boiling rapidly, shake the cereal into the water from a cup, so slowly that the water does not stop boiling.
If the grains begin to settle, shake the vessel gently, but do not stir, even with a fork.
Continue this process for about five minutes, or until the mass thickens so that the separate grains do not settle.
If toward the end of this stage there is danger of sticking, lift the mass with the fork, but do not stir it.
Finish cooking
Place the inner part of the boiler in the outer over boiling water and allow the cooking to continue for at least one hour.
If you have a fireless cooker, put the cereal in the double boiler into the cooker overnight for the second stage.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Rice | 1 cup cooked (158g) white | 206 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| 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.
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.
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Rice + potatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together851 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cereal
- Its starch grains swell and gelatinize in boiling water, thickening the mass into porridge.
- Water
- Hydrates the starch so the grains can swell and soften during cooking.
The step that matters
Shaking the cereal in slowly. Adding cereal too fast into water that has stopped boiling lets grains clump and settle. Shaking gently rather than stirring keeps the grains separate while the starch thickens, so the porridge cooks evenly.
“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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