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 Compose
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
In a double boiler, combine milk, water, rice, and salt.
Cook until the rice is dry.
Beat in the egg and sugar until well combined.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Finish and serve
Once cool, add the fruit.
Serve with whipped cream.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Rice
- Forms the starchy body of the pudding as it cooks slowly in the milk.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the rice absorbs and the creamy richness of the pudding.
- Egg
- Adds richness and helps bind the pudding as it sets.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavor of the milk and rice.
The step that matters
Cook until the rice is dry. Cooking the rice slowly in a double boiler lets the starch swell and soften gently; heating too fast can scorch the milk on the bottom and cause it to stick or curdle, so keep the heat gentle and watch closely.
“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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