Why it works: Milk and rice 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 ↓
Ceeam Rice
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the pudding
Combine the milk, rice, salt, sugar, and margarine in a buttered pudding dish.
Mix well and cook in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 2 to 3 hours, stirring often.
Do not stir during the last half hour of cooking.
Cook until very soft and the consistency of thick cream.
Cool and serve
Cool and pour into a glass dish.
Serve with thin bits of bright jelly over the top, if desired.
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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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 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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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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that slowly thickens and turns creamy as it cooks.
- Rice
- Absorbs liquid and softens during the long bake, giving the pudding its body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown slightly at the surface.
- Margarine
- Adds fat for a richer mouthfeel and smoother texture.
The step that matters
Stop stirring during the last half hour. Stirring late in baking breaks up the set starch and surface, so the pudding can turn grainy or uneven instead of thick and smooth as it cools.
“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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