Why it works: Peanut and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 670 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Peanut Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Shape the loaf
In a large bowl, mix together the ground peanuts, bread crumbs, rolled rice, tomatoes, egg, chopped onion, salt, and pepper.
Mold the mixture into a loaf shape.
Bake
Place the loaf in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
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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Peanut + ricetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together670 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,065 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peanut + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,043 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
- Ground peanuts
- Provide the main body and rich, nutty flavor of the loaf.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and help the loaf hold its shape.
- Rolled rice
- Adds bulk and a tender, starchy texture to the loaf.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and a mild acidity to the mixture.
- Egg
- Binds the ingredients together as it sets during baking.
The step that matters
Mold the mixture into a loaf shape. The mixture is held together only by the egg and crumbs, so it should be packed firmly and evenly. Loose packing can cause the loaf to crumble or bake unevenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peanut, bread, rice, tomato, egg, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peanut, bread, rice, tomato, egg, 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.
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