Sushi Rice Recipe: How to Make Sushi Rice

Sushi rice is the one of the basic components of world famous Japanese meal called “sushi” which is the most famous Japanese food kown in world cuisine. Sushi rice is seasoned with a special sauce made of rice vinegar, granulated sugar and salt.

Sushi rice has a sticky texture. This is why short or medium grain rice is used since they provide the sticky nature which is needed for rolling sushi.

What is Sushi: How Sushi is Made?

Sushi is a traditional Japanese food prepared with a vinegar seasoned rice with raw or cooked seafood, with a combination of food like vegetables, fruits, cheese, and so on.

Japanese sushi is served with wasabi and pickled ginger. Wasabi is ued to kill parazites possibly come from raw fish. Pickled ginger on the other hand serves to enhance the flavor while passing to another sushi piece. It eliminates the existing flavor from the previous sushi piece and helps you to get the flavor of the next sushi piece completely.

Sushi has started to get famous and spread after the second world war firstly in the United States, then throughout the world. It reached its popularity during 1980s. While spread accross the boundries of many countries, sushi got diversified since it is tried to fit the flavors of each country. And thus many different sushi variety has been formed.

There are many reasons why sushi consumption is widespread around the world in recent years. Firstly the ingredients and preparation method makes it much healthier choice when compared with other fast foods with much fat. Moreover the fact that sushi can be pepared in a number of ways which makes it tailored to tastes of many cultures and has reached a widespread acceptance in all countries.

What are Sushi Types?

There are two types of sushi which are rolled with dried seaweed nori namely maki and uramaki. Maki roll is the sushi type which is made by rolling the fish and other ingredients in such a way that the nori will remain outside. Uramaki on the other hand is the sushi type which is made by rolling the fish and other ingredients in such a way that the nori will remain inside.

Nigiri, is made by putting seafood pieces on the sushi rice balls which are shaped with hand. Generally seaweed is used only to attach the fish pieces to the sushi rice by cutting 1 cm wide pieces. Sashimi is a sushi type in which only slices of seafood are served directly without the use of rice and seaweed.

How to Make Sushi Rice

The most important secret for preparing delicious sushi rolls all the time is successful sushi rice cooked with correct texture. In order to make perfect sushi rice, you need kitchen scales. All the ingredients must be scaled and used at exact ratios. The rice must be chosen from short or medium grain rice varieties since they provide the stickiness needed for rolling sushi. After scaling all the ingredients we can start to prepare sushi rice. Here are the ingredients and step-by-step instructions for making sushi rice:

How to Cook Sushi Rice

1. First of all we transfer 500 gr. sushi rice in a big bowl and wash and drain 3-4 times until the excess starch is gone.
2. The ideal rice – water ratio for sushi rice is 1:1,25. (Normally 1:1,5 is the ideal rice – water ratio for cooking normal rice. Since we add sauce after cooking the rice, the ratio is decreased to 1:1,2 for better outcome.)
3. We add 600 ml water for 500 gr rice and place it in a rice cooker. You can also cook in regular pan for 15-20 minutes over low flame (after boiling over medium flame). In both situations, we give it a 10 minutes rest after cooking time is over before opening the lid.
4. Meantime, we can start preparing the sauce when the rice is cooking. For vinegar sauce, add 140 ml rice vinegar in a suitable sauce container, add 8 gr salt and 70 gr granulated sugar. And mix all until the sugar and the salt completely dissolve.
5. After the rice cooked and rested for 10 minutes, we can open the lid and add the sauce slowly to make it reach all over the rice. With a suitable rice mixing spoon or wooden spoon, stir well until the cooked rice absorbed the sauce fully.
6. Now we can pass to cooling stage. For cooling the sushi rice, transfer the cooked rice to suitable wide mouth container and stir. Cover with a cheesecloth. Open the cloth and stir in every 15 minutes. Continue to stir until the sushi rice reaches to room temperature.
7. Finally when the sushi rice reaches to room temperature, we are ready to use it. We are ready to use the sushi rice for making delicious sushi rolls.
8. Make sure that you get the piece you will use and again keep covered the remaining rice with plastic wrap to make sure that the remaning sushi rice does not dry.