Why it works: Rice and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,065 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Paechbd Eice with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice
Pick over the rice and add it slowly to the boiling water with salt.
Boil for 25 minutes or until the kernels are soft.
Drain the rice and pour over it 1 quart of hot water.
Return the rice to the kettle and let it stand until cool and dry.
Fry and serve
Heat an iron frying pan until very hot, add the butter, and melt it.
Add the rice and cook until slightly browned, stirring lightly with a fork.
Transfer the rice to a hot serving dish, pour over the hot tomato sauce, and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Lift the rice with a fork to coat each kernel with sauce and cheese.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,896 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Rice + cheesetop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together942 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,338 recipes mention both: they likely 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 bulk of the dish; boiling softens the kernels, and frying gives them a light browned surface.
- Butter
- Fat that coats the rice and helps it brown lightly in the hot pan.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds moisture and acidity, coating the rice kernels for flavour.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and richness as it sits on the hot rice and sauce.
The step that matters
Let the rice stand until cool and dry. Rice that stays wet after draining will steam instead of browning in the pan, and the kernels can turn sticky. Letting it dry first helps the grains stay separate and brown lightly when fried.
“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.
You might also like
Eggplant Cakes34 recipes
Escalloped Tomatoes (Scalloped Tomatoes)25 recipes
Parsnip Croquettes12 recipes
Onion Pudding9 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.