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Rice Balls

Rice balls are small fried rice spheres coated in cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Rice Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine cold boiled rice, vanilla extract, sugar, and beaten egg in a bowl.

  2. Form the mixture into balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each ball in additional beaten egg, then roll in fine cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry the balls in hot oil until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Serve with maple syrup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,352 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Vanilla + eggtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together27,347 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Cold boiled rice
Forms the bulk of the ball and gives it a soft, chewy interior.
Beaten egg
Binds the rice together and, when dipped, helps the cracker crumbs stick to the outside.
Fine cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browning coating that gives the fried balls their crunch.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the outside brown in the hot oil.

The step that matters

Frying the coated balls in hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy before it browns, while too much heat can scorch the outside before the rice inside heats through. Keeping the oil at a steady hot temperature gives a golden, crisp coating.

“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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