Why it works: Rice and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,366 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Lemon 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 the base
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line and decorate a pie dish with the short crust pastry.
In a saucepan, boil the ground rice and water over low heat, stirring constantly until thick.
Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, grated lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg yolks.
Top and bake
Pour the mixture into the prepared pie dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gently mix in 2 oz. of castor sugar.
Spread the meringue on top of the pudding and bake for an additional 10 minutes to set the meringue.
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 + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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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).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Ground rice
- Thickens the boiled water into a firm custard base that holds its shape.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and set the filling; whites whip into the meringue topping that gives lift.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the filling and stabilises the whipped egg whites in the meringue.
- Lemon
- Zest adds aroma and juice adds acidity that brightens the sweet filling.
The step that matters
Whisking the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to firm peaks and folded gently so the meringue keeps its air. Overmixing or deflating them makes the topping weep or bake flat and dense.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, sugar, egg. 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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