Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Pancakes of Rice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Boil the rice in a small amount of water until it reaches a jelly-like consistency.
Let the rice cool, then mix it with the cream, eggs, salt, and nutmeg.
Make and fry the batter
Stir in the warmed butter and add enough flour to make a thick batter.
Fry the batter in a small amount of lard or dripping until golden 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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Cooked to a jelly-like texture, it gives the pancakes body and a soft, moist crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during frying, giving the pancakes structure.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, making the batter tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour, and helps browning in the pan.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter so it holds its shape when fried.
The step that matters
Cooking the rice to a jelly-like consistency. Rice must be cooked long enough in a small amount of water to break down its starch into a smooth, sticky mass. Undercooked rice stays grainy and will not blend into the batter, leaving the pancakes gritty and less cohesive.
“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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