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Sushi rice forms the foundation for many Japanese recipes. It needs to be sticky, but glossy and workable, without mashing the little pearly grains.
I’ve read a variety of methods on how to make good sushi rice, rooted in traditional Japanese practices. The best resource I have found takes a slightly more modern, efficient approach.
In the following Howcast video, Koji Kagawa, an Executive Sushi Chef at SUSHISAMBA in New York City, walks through the process of making sushi rice, while Taige Jensen narrates.
The video calls for 2 cups sushi rice, which is the perfect quantity for 6 rolls of futomaki, cut into 36 pieces total. This gives 3 people twelve pieces sushi.
Ingredients
-2 cups sushi rice/short grained rice
-1/2 cup rice vinegar
-2 tsp salt
-1/4 cup sugar
-4” piece konbu seaweed
Supplies
-Measuring cup
-Mesh strainer for rice
-2 quart pot with lid to cook rice
-1 quart pot for sushi vinegar
-Wooden Spoon
-4 quart non-metallic bowl to mix rice
Instructions:
1. Clean Rice: Place 2 cups sushi rice in a mesh strainer. Rinse over cold water, stirring rice with fingers. Remove any debris or funny looking grains. Continue rinsing until water runs clear.
2. Soak Rice: Place rice in 2 quart pot and fill with cold water until an inch above rice. Soak 30 minutes. Make sushi vinegar (step 5) in the meantime or other food prep.
3. Rinse Rice: Place rice back in strainer; rinse in cold water until water runs clear, stirring with fingers.
4 a. Cook Rice: Place rice back in empty 2 quart pot. Fill with 2 1/4 cup cold water. Cover. Bring to boil over high heat. When bubbles and steam escape from the lid, reduce heat to lowest setting, and simmer for 20 minutes. Make sushi vinegar (step 5) in the meantime or other food prep.
Do not remove lid while simmering. After 20 minutes, check to see if water is fully absorbed. If not, cover and simmer another five minutes.
4 b. Cool Rice: Once water is fully absorbed, turn off heat and set rice aside for 15 minutes. Do not remove lid.
5. Make Sushi Vinegar: While the rice is cooking, place 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a 1-quart pot and bring it to a boil on medium high heat, stirring regularly until the salt and sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and add konbu. Set the pot aside to cool.
6. Transfer Rice to Bowl: Transfer cooled rice to a large non-metallic bowl, careful not to scrape bottom of pot, as stuck pieces will impart an undesirable flavor and texture. Carefully spread the rice to help cool further.
7. Mix Sushi Vinegar in Rice: With wooden spoon in one hand and pot of cooled vinegar in the other, slowly pour the the vinegar on the spoon over the large bowl of rice in a circular pattern.
In a cutting and folding motion, carefully stir the rice without mashing it. Traditionally, the Japanese would use a hand fan to cool the rice as they stirred.
If all goes well, you have sticky, but workable sushi rice. If not using it right away, cover with a damp cloth.
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