Why it works: Rice and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,611 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Dry each ingredient separately in a slow oven (300°F / 150°C).
Mix the rice flour with the tartaric acid.
Add the bicarbonate of soda and sift the mixture.
Store
Store in a bottle until required.
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 + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Powdered bicarbonate of soda
- Supplies the alkali that reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide for rising.
- Powdered tartaric acid
- Reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to produce carbon dioxide gas when moisture is present.
- Powdered rice flour
- Acts as a dry carrier that keeps the acid and alkali separated and free-flowing until use.
The step that matters
Drying each ingredient separately. Any residual moisture lets the acid and bicarbonate react early in the jar, using up the leavening power before baking. Drying each powder on its own keeps the reaction dormant until the mix is wet in a batter.
“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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