Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Rice Pttdding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a pot, combine new milk, semi-cooked rice, salt, and raisins.
Steam for 1.5 hours, stirring 2-3 times.
While hot, stir in the beaten egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar.
Top and brown
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth, then add 2 tablespoons sugar and flavoring.
Pour the egg white mixture over the rice pudding and brown in the oven.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,352 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Raisin + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together782 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- New milk
- Forms the liquid base that the rice cooks and softens in.
- Semi-cooked rice
- Provides the body of the pudding as it absorbs milk and softens.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the pudding and help it set into a custard-like texture.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff froth, they form a light topping that browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the egg white topping hold its structure and brown.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to a stiff froth. Whites under-beaten or deflated will not hold their shape on top of the pudding and may weep or sink. Stiff whites that are folded or spread gently stay airy and brown evenly in the oven.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, egg, sugar, vanilla):
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, egg, sugar, vanilla. 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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