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 Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Rub the lard and sugar into the rice, then add the milk, working out the lumps.
Stir in the dissolved yeast and enough flour to make a good batter.
Let the batter rise for 5 to 6 hours.
Finish and bake
Stir in the baking soda and salt, beating well.
Half fill muffin tins, cover, and let stand for 20 minutes.
Bake until golden brown.
Add 2 eggs after the long rising for richer muffins.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the muffins together as the batter sets in the oven.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, making the batter light and airy.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and its milk sugars help the muffins brown.
- Cold boiled rice
- Adds moisture and a soft, tender crumb to the batter.
- Lard
- Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust take on golden browning.
The step that matters
Let the batter rise for 5 to 6 hours. Yeast needs time to ferment the batter. The gas it produces makes the muffins light. Rushing this step leaves the batter dense, so give it the full rise before adding the baking soda and salt.
“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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