Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a double boiler, stir together the tapioca and milk.
Cook the mixture for 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until combined.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the tapioca and milk.
Cook until thickened.
Cool the mixture.
Top and finish
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the top.
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.
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.
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Minute tapioca
- Thickens the milk as it cooks, giving the pudding its body and texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the tapioca swells in and sets into a creamy pudding.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and further thicken the custard when heated gently.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and adds to its smooth body.
- Cornstarch
- Adds extra thickening so the pudding sets firm when cooked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form a light topping that adds lift.
The step that matters
Cook until thickened after adding the yolks. Egg yolks can scramble if the mixture is too hot or cooked too fast. Gentle heat in a double boiler lets the yolks thicken the custard smoothly without curdling.
“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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