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Rice Soup

A hearty beef soup with rice, simmered for hours and seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Rice Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Simmer the soup

  1. Place the beef and soup bone in a pot with the cold water, salt, and sliced onion.

  2. Cook for 5.5 to 6 hours.

  3. Strain the soup through a colander, returning the good meat to the pot and discarding bones, skin, and gristle.

Add rice and serve

  1. Prepare the rice as directed in the remarks on soup, then stir it into the strained soup 30 minutes before serving.

  2. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from scorching or sticking.

  3. Season lightly with pepper and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + ricetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,265 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fresh lean beef
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, gentle simmer.
Soup bone
Adds savoury depth and body to the broth as its collagen and marrow release into the liquid.
Onion
Contributes aroma and mild sweetness as it softens and flavours the simmering broth.
Rice
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the soup and giving it a fuller texture.

The step that matters

Stir the rice frequently. Rice releases starch that settles on the base of the pot, where direct heat can scorch it and make it stick. Regular stirring keeps the grains suspended and evenly cooked.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, rice, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, rice, pepper. 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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