Perfect Sushi Rice Recipe – Complete Guide

Do you like Sushi? We love sushi! so we sometimes make a variety of sushi, like maki-sushi, chirashi-sushi, hand- roll sushi, nigiri-sushi and the other sushi at home. When we enjoy sushi at home, we need perfect sushi rice (vinegared rice or sushimeshi).

In Japan, the seasoning of sushi rice varies depending on the region, and many sushi restaurants have a secret recipe for the sushi rice, because It’s a very important part as toppings for making great sushi. Perfect sushi rice looks glossy and have a little bit hard texture. They have a perfect balance between sweetness, saltiness and sourness.

Let’s try to make sushi rice at home, because you can adjust the sweetness and saltiness that you like. Enjoy!

The Perfect Sushi Rice Recipe

NOTE: If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can use the thick pot instead of a rice cooker. But, be careful amount of water and rice, because a rice cooker cup doesn’t equal regular 1cup.

Ingredients (2-3 serves)

If you use the rice cooker
* 2 rice cooker cups (290g, 10 and 1/4 ounces) short grain rice
* rice cooker’s specified level water* 1/2 cup rice vinegar
* 1and1/2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt If you use the pot
* 2 cups (360g, 12.7ounces) short grain rice
* 2 cups water (same amount cold water as rice)* 3/4 cup rice vinegar
* 2 tablespoons suger
* 1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt

* large thick pot with a lid or rice cooker
* large bowl or sushioke
* paddele or shamoji
* dish towel
* something to fan, like paper fan, thin notebook,etc…

Directions1, Make the vinegar mixture. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt well in a small bowl. And let it set while the rice to cook.

2, Put the short grain rice into the pot, rice cooker pot, or large bowl. First, add cold water and wash the rice quickly run your hand and pour out the water. Then, wash the rice quickly by lightly pressing with your hand. Pour out the water and rinse twice more until the water looks almost clear.

3, If you use the thick pot, add 2cups of water into the pan. And leave it for at least 30 minutes.
If you use the rice cooker, add cold water to just 2 cup sushi line. If you don’t have sushi line of your rice cooker, add water to just 2cup line and take out 3 tbsp of water. Leave it for at least 30 minutes.

4, If you use the pot, Set the pot with a lid to high heat, and the pot reaches a boil, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and let it steam for 10 minutes. Don’t remove the lid!
If you use a rice cooker, turn it on.

5, When the rice is cooked, put the hot rice into a large bowl or a plate. Pour the vinegar mixture over the hot rice, using the rice paddle (shamoji) or spoon to receive and wait for only 10 seconds.

6, Spread the sushi rice and make cutting strokes to stir until letting off the moisture for 1 minutes. Move the paddle like scooping rice from the bottom. This process will give sushi rice a shiny look.

7, You can cool the rice with a hand-held fan and waving over the spread sushi rice for 15 seconds. Then turn over the sushi rice, fanning again for 15 seconds.

8, Cover with a damp towel until you are ready to use it.

Note

1, You need short grain rice not long grain rice, because short grain rice gets sticky when it’s cooked, but long grain rice doesn’t stick together.

2, You need to cook boiled rice a little bit firmly than usual. If you cook boiled rice as usual, boiled rice will become too much soft, when you put the vinegar mixture.

3, Add vinegar mixture when the boiled rice is still hot. If rice is cold, It’ll be difficult to spread the vinegar evenly.

4, It’s better to make sushi rice before 1hour more to use for sushi. Because the taste will be much better if the time passes for a while.

5, You can use all kinds of water, but soft water is better to cook for sushi rice than hard water. In Japan, we usually use soft water to cook.