Why it works: Rice and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,259 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Rice Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine cold boiled rice, Cottolene, and a beaten egg.
With floured hands, roll the mixture into oval balls.
Coat and fry
Dip each ball in the beaten egg, then coat with bread or cracker crumbs.
Fry the croquettes in hot Cottolene until golden brown.
Serve
Serve with maple syrup.
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 + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,350 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled rice
- Forms the bulk of the croquette and holds its shape when cold and starchy.
- Beaten egg
- Binds the rice mixture together and helps the crumb coating stick.
- Bread or cracker crumbs
- Forms a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.
The step that matters
Fry the croquettes in hot Cottolene until golden brown. If the fat is not hot enough, the croquettes absorb excess oil and turn greasy, and the coating may fall off before it sets. Hot fat quickly sets the egg and crumbs into a crisp crust.
“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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