Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Boiled Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the rice
Wash the rice thoroughly.
In a saucepan, combine the rice and water; bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the milk and let it stand with the cover half off until the milk is absorbed.
Shape and serve
Pour a little milk into a pint bowl and rub it around to prevent sticking.
Transfer the rice into the bowl to shape it, then turn it out onto a pudding dish.
Serve with sweet sauce, syrup, or butter and sugar.
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.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,396 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + saucetop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the body of the pudding as its starches soften and thicken during cooking.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and moisture as it is absorbed into the cooked rice.
The step that matters
Add the milk and let it stand with the cover half off until the milk is absorbed. Milk added to hot rice must be absorbed slowly over gentle heat. Rushing or overheating can scorch the milk sugars and leave the pudding dry or unevenly textured.
“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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