Why it works: Rice and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,645 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
How to Cook Rice for Crusts or Stands
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.
Cook the rice
Wash the rice in plenty of cold water and drain it.
In a saucepan, combine the rice with three times as much water.
Add a little salt and a small piece of butter, then bring to a boil while stirring.
After six minutes, cover the pan tightly.
Place the pan in a 350°F (175°C) oven for one hour.
If any rice on top has browned, remove it.
Using a spoon, carefully take the rice from the saucepan, avoiding any that sticks to the sides.
Shape the crusts
Pound the rice in a mortar to a fine paste.
Place the paste on a clean board.
Dip your hands in cold water.
Work the rice together.
Butter a mold of your desired shape.
Fill the mold with the rice.
Smooth the surface of the rice in the mold.
Cover with buttered paper.
Place a wooden cover inside the mold.
Weigh the mold down.
Set aside for ten hours to cool.
Dip the mold in hot water.
Turn the rice out onto a dish.
Cut the rice into desired shapes with a small sharp knife.
Keep covered with a damp napkin until ready to use.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Cooked and then pounded, it becomes a paste that sets firm enough to hold a shape.
- Butter
- Coats the pan and mold so the rice releases cleanly and adds a little richness.
The step that matters
Carefully taking the rice from the saucepan. Rice that sticks to the sides or has browned on top can spoil the batch. Lifting out only the tender, evenly cooked rice keeps the paste smooth and uniform so it packs and sets evenly in the mold.
“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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