Name: Coconut-Vegetable Rice PilafCoconut-Vegetable Rice Pilaf
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 2 cups white basmati rice; 1 tablespoon canola or other neutral oil; 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns; 1/2 large onion, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups); 1 zucchini, trimmed and sliced into thin half moons; 1 carrot, peeled, trimmed, and sliced into thin half moons; 1/2 serrano pepper, seeded, trimmed, and minced; 1/4 cup sliced almonds; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1 14-ounce can coconut milk; 1 1/4 cups water; fresh cilantro for garnish (optional); Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rinse the rice in several changes of water, until the water that runs off is clear. Let drain while you prepare the rest of the pilaf.; Over high heat, warm the oil in an oven-safe Dutch oven with a lid. After about 1 minute, put in the peppercorns and cover with the lid. Let cook for about 1 minute—you’ll hear a few of them popping.

Why it works: Almond and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

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.

Almond + coconuttop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,093 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Coconut + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,648 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Carrot + coconuttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together392 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basmati rice, carrot, pepper, almond, sugar, coconut, milk):

Capsicumfits better
Sweet potatofits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against basmati rice, carrot, pepper, almond, sugar, coconut, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Canola	1 tbsp (14g)	124
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Coconut-Vegetable Rice PilafCoconut-Vegetable Rice Pilaf