How to Make Proper Sushi Rice

If you love sushi, you’ll probably get fed up with paying $5 for tiny sushi rolls at your local sushi restaurant, and decide to have a crack at making sushi yourself.  It’s fairly easy once you’ve mastered the basic techniques, and the first place to start is by making proper sushi rice.

 

To make sushi rice from scratch, you will need:

 

4 cups Japanese rice (medium grain)

Half a cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of white cane sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups water

 

Steps:

 

The first commandment of making great sushi rice is to always (always!) wash your rice.  This removes rice dust which would otherwise boil in the water and turn straight to starch, making your sushi rice sticky.  Put the rice in a sieve and rinse well under the cold tap, stirring well with your fingers.

 

Next, cook your rice in a pan or rice cooker – you’ll get more even results if you use a rice cooker, and you can get one very cheaply at any electronics store for under $30 dollars.  If you eat rice a lot, it will be a wise investment.

 

Next, you’ll need to make sushi-zu, or sushi vinegar.  You can do this easily by mixing your rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan.  Cook the mixture over a very low heat and stir briskly until all of the sugar has dissolved.

 

Now comes the entertaining part.  Spread your cooked white rice onto a large plate or bowl using a plastic spatula.  Pour your rice vinegar over the rice as evenly as you can so it is all absorbed.

 

Lightly fold the rice over itself several times to make sure that the vinegar seeps into every part of the rice.  Do not fold the rice too many times or press it too hard, or you’ll end up with mushy rice.

 

TIP:  Switch on a portable fan and let it blow over the rice as you fold it, on a cool setting.  This is what gives sushi rice its shiny look.

 

Use your rice right away.

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