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 ↓
Appee-and-rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the apple base
Boil the apples and sugar together until reduced to a smooth pulp, stirring often to prevent burning.
If the apples are very acidic, increase the sugar and add lemon rind or juice to taste.
Bake
Mix in the boiled rice, butter, and eggs while the mixture is still warm.
Bake for 30 to 35 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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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Apple + ricetop 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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pudding apples
- Break down into a smooth pulp that forms the body and flavor of the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the apples cook down into a smooth pulp.
- Boiled rice
- Adds body and a soft, starchy texture to the baked pudding.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, smooth texture.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the pudding into a custard-like structure.
The step that matters
Stirring the apples while they boil. Sugar and fruit pulp scorch easily on direct heat, and burnt sugar gives a bitter taste. Frequent stirring keeps the mixture even and prevents sticking as the water evaporates and the pulp thickens.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, rice, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Peachfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, rice, butter, egg. 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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