Why it works: Rice and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,366 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Moulded Rice, or Sago, and Apple Juice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Rinse 7 ounces of Carolina rice to remove discolored grains and wipe it with a soft cloth.
Combine the rice with 1 quart of cold prepared apple juice in a pot over gentle heat. Stir often until it begins to boil to prevent lumps.
Cook until the rice is tender, then add 6 ounces of pounded sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Stir constantly until the mixture is thick and dry.
Mold and chill
Press the mixture into a water-lined mold and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Make the sago and serve
For sago, wash and drain 8 ounces, then combine with 1½ pints of apple juice.
Add 4 ounces of sugar, juice, and grated rind of 1 lemon, and boil for 15-20 minutes.
Serve plain or with a rich apple juice syrup flavored with lemon, or topped with almond spikes and boiled custard.
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 + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,311 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Carolina rice
- Starch that thickens as it cooks and sets the mixture firm enough to hold its mold shape.
- Apple juice
- Liquid that cooks the rice and gives the dish its fruity flavor and moisture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dish and adds body to the cooked rice mixture.
- Sago
- Starch that thickens the juice mixture into a soft, glossy pudding.
The step that matters
Stirring the rice until thick and dry. Rice starch can scorch on the bottom and stick if the heat is too high or stirring stops. Stirring constantly spreads heat evenly and keeps lumps from forming, so the mixture thickens smoothly enough to hold its shape when molded.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, sugar, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Limefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, sugar, lemon. 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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