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 Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the beaten egg yolks, boiled rice, milk, and salt.
Sift together the flour and baking powder, then add them alternately to the mixture.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Cook
Fry the mixture on a greased griddle until golden brown.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the batter, and whipped whites lighten it for a tender texture.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that give the cakes their body.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cakes rise and turn fluffy.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the flour hydrates into a pourable batter.
- Boiled rice
- Adds soft, starchy body and moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the whites from being knocked out. That air is what makes the cakes light, so overmixing will leave them dense.
“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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