Why it works: Rice and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,065 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Rice Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice in 2½ pints of water with the butter, pepper, and salt until tender.
Once the rice is soft, add the tomato juice and cheese.
Stir until the soup boils and the cheese is dissolved.
If too much water has evaporated, add a little more.
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.
-
Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Cheese + tomatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,896 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
- Rice
- Provides the body and starchy thickness of the soup as it softens in the water.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the liquid to add richness, savoury flavour and a creamy texture.
- Tomato juice
- Adds acidity and a bright tomato flavour that balances the richness of the cheese and butter.
- Butter
- Contributes fat for a rounder mouthfeel and richer flavour.
The step that matters
Stirring the cheese in until dissolved. Cheese can turn stringy or grainy if it overheats or boils hard. Stirring it in as the soup comes to a boil lets it melt smoothly into the liquid.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, cheese, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, cheese, butter, 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.
More rice soup recipes
You might also like
Rice and Cheese Casserole23 recipes
Cheese Rice12 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipesThe 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.