Why it works: Rice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,137 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Rice Water
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the rice well.
Combine the rice, water, and cinnamon in a saucepan.
Boil for 1 hour.
Strain and sweeten
Strain the mixture and set aside to cool.
Add sugar to taste, unless using as a remedy for cholera or dysentery.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Rice + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,744 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Whole rice
- Starch releases into the water, giving the liquid body and a slightly cloudy, thickened texture.
- Cinnamon stick
- Infuses the water with a warm, sweet aroma.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to taste once the liquid has cooled.
The step that matters
Boil for 1 hour. A full hour of boiling softens the rice so its starch fully leaches into the water. Heat that is too high or no stirring can scorch the rice on the pan bottom, giving a burnt taste.
“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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