Name: Rice Water
Ingredients: 6 ounces of rice; 2 ounces of Valentia raisins; 2 quarts of water; 2 tablespoons of brandy

Why it works: Rice and raisin work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 565 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Rice Water

Ingredients

6 ounces of rice
2 ounces of Valentia raisins
2 quarts of water
2 tablespoons of brandy

Directions

Add rice and raisins to water in a pot.
Boil gently for about 30-40 minutes.
Strain the mixture into a jug.
Stir in the brandy.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Rice + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together565 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,768 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Rice + brandytop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together378 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice: Starch from the rice thickens the water and gives the drink body.
Valentia raisins: Add sweetness and a fruity flavour to the liquid as they soften.
Brandy: Adds aroma and a warming alcoholic note stirred in at the end.