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
Make the custard
In a pot, combine the cooked rice and milk, and bring to a boil.
In a bowl, beat the sugar with the egg yolks, then add to the boiling rice.
Stir quickly to cook the eggs without curdling the custard.
Add your chosen flavoring and pour the mixture into a dish to cool.
Top and finish
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then add 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the cooled rice pudding.
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 + 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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 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
- Cooked rice
- Forms the body of the pudding, soaking up the milk as it simmers.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that cooks the rice and gives the pudding its creamy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard as they cook, giving the pudding a smooth, rich set.
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff, they form a light, airy topping over the pudding.
The step that matters
Stir quickly when adding the egg yolks. Egg yolks scramble if they meet very hot liquid without constant stirring. Stirring quickly spreads the heat so the custard thickens smoothly instead of 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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