Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the tapioca overnight.
In a large pot, combine soaked tapioca, sugar, sweet milk, and a pinch of salt.
Cook and finish
Cook over boiling water until thickened, stirring frequently.
Beat the reserved egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into the pudding.
Add flavoring to taste before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Tapioca
- Thickens the milk as it cooks and gives the pudding its soft, chewy texture.
- Eggs
- Egg whites beaten to stiff peaks add lightness and a airy texture to the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the flavor of the milk.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base that the tapioca swells and thickens in.
The step that matters
Cook over boiling water until thickened, stirring frequently. Tapioca starch must be heated fully to swell and thicken the milk. Frequent stirring keeps the starch from settling and scorching on the bottom of the pot.
“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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