Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Delicate Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the rice
Boil the rice in the water until nearly done.
Add the milk and cook until the rice is soft.
Finish and bake
Beat the egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar, then add to the rice mixture along with salt and vanilla.
Remove from heat and stir in the beaten whites of 2 eggs.
Make a meringue with the remaining egg whites and ½ cup of sugar, then spread over the top.
Place in a 350°F (175°C) oven to brown.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rice + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,352 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Raw rice
- Starch swells and softens as it cooks, giving the pudding its body.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the rice absorbs, and adds richness and creaminess.
- Eggs
- Egg proteins set when heated, thickening the pudding and binding it together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the meringue on top brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks to the hot rice mixture. Egg proteins set at high heat, so if the hot rice mixture is too hot or boils after the eggs go in, the eggs can curdle and turn grainy. Stir well and keep the heat gentle.
“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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