Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Rice Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice in water for one hour.
Add the juice of the boiled tomatoes, olive oil, peanut oil, and salt.
Boil for a few minutes.
Flavor with tomato ketchup.
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.
-
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Rice + olivetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,994 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Rice + peanut oiltop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together199 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
-
Olive + peanut oiltop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together172 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the water and giving the soup body.
- Tomato juice
- Adds acidity and bright tomato flavour to the broth.
- Olive oil
- Carries flavour and gives the soup a smoother, richer mouthfeel.
- Peanut oil
- Adds fat for richness and a softer mouthfeel.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness, acidity and concentrated tomato flavour.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, olive, peanut oil, ketchup):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
- Welsh onionfits less well
- Cucumberfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, olive, peanut oil, ketchup. 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.
More rice soup recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Rice Fritters84 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes