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 says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a pudding dish, mix the boiled rice and washed raisins.
Make the custard
In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and milk together until well combined.
Pour the egg mixture over the rice and raisins.
Bake
Bake until the custard is just set, being careful not to overbake.
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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Rice + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together565 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard as they cook, binding the milk into a soft, sliceable texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, giving the pudding its creamy moisture.
- Boiled rice
- Provides the bulk and body that the custard surrounds and holds together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the custard brown lightly at the edges.
- Washed raisins
- Add chewy pockets of concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Eggs thicken as they heat, and past the set point the proteins tighten and squeeze out water, leaving the custard grainy and watery. Pulling the pudding when the centre just barely wobbles lets residual heat finish the set without curdling.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, egg, sugar, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, egg, sugar, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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