Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cereal Pudding with Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the pudding
Cook the rice and milk together until done.
Add sugar and flavouring towards the end of cooking.
Let the mixture cool slightly, then add the eggs.
Bake
Bake the pudding in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 20 minutes until pale brown.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar 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
- Rice
- Starch that softens during cooking and thickens the milk into a creamy pudding.
- Milk
- Liquid that cooks the rice and forms the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding a custard-like structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the surface in the oven.
The step that matters
Add the eggs after the mixture cools slightly. Eggs scrambled by very hot mixture turn grainy and curdled. Letting the mixture cool a little first lets the eggs blend smoothly and then set gently in the oven.
“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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