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 ↓
Rice Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
In a pot, add 3 quarts of clear stock and 2 ounces of washed and picked rice.
Parboil the rice, then drain it dry and let it boil gently until tender.
In another pot, boil 2 ounces of rice in 1 pint of milk until it nearly absorbs the milk.
Make the soup
Add 3 quarts of veal broth to the rice and season with salt to taste.
Continue boiling the rice until tender.
Five minutes before serving, add 4 egg yolks and 1 pint of cream to the soup.
Prepare a knuckle of veal by boiling it gently in 1 quart of water until tender.
Strain the liquid from the veal, skim off the fat, and add both the veal and the liquid to the soup.
Serve hot.
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 + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + vealtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,119 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Rice + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,399 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Swells and thickens the soup as it cooks, giving it body.
- Milk
- Softens the rice and adds richness and a creamy flavour.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the soup, adding body and a smooth texture.
- Cream
- Adds fat and richness, giving the soup a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
- Veal knuckle
- Releases gelatin and flavour into the broth, giving depth to the soup.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks and cream. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat and can curdle or turn grainy if the soup boils after they are added. Adding them just before serving, off a hard boil, keeps the soup smooth.
“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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