Why it works: Milk and rice 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 Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the rice
Boil the stock in a pot.
Add the washed rice and simmer gently for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is thoroughly cooked.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve back into the pot.
Finish and serve
Add the milk and bring to a boil.
Beat the egg yolk with a little milk or cold stock.
Let the soup cook slightly, then pour in the egg and stir until the soup thickens.
Season to taste and serve.
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 + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Egg + ricetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,350 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White second stock
- Forms the main liquid and carries the soup's flavour.
- Rice
- Its starch softens and thickens the stock once cooked and sieved, giving body.
- Milk
- Adds fat and creaminess, softening the flavour of the soup.
- Egg yolk
- Its proteins set gently with heat, thickening the soup and enriching its texture.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolk. Egg yolk proteins set when heated, so if the soup is too hot the egg will scramble and curdle instead of thickening it smoothly. Letting the soup cool slightly and stirring while pouring in the egg keeps the texture silky.
“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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