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 ↓
Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the pudding
Cook the rice in the milk until tender.
Let it cool, then add the beaten eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder.
Mix well and pour into a baking dish.
Bake
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for one hour.
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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Rice
- Forms the body of the pudding and absorbs milk as it cooks, giving a soft, creamy texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that the rice cooks in and that sets into a custard-like texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set during baking, giving the pudding structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly on the surface.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture and adds structure so it holds together when baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the pudding rise and become lighter.
The step that matters
Let the rice cool before adding the eggs. Adding beaten eggs to very hot rice can cook them unevenly and cause lumps. Cooling the mixture first lets the eggs blend smoothly so the pudding bakes 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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