How To Make Sushi Rice

You may be thinking, what on earth could be the  major difference between regular rice and sushi rice. It’s a completely natural thing. But you know how sushi rice is all sticky and easily moldable and just kind of tastes really delicious for reasons unknown? The truth is, rice is the base for sushi, not fish. You could throw a piece of mango on rice and in Japanese culture, it would be sushi. But because rice is the end all be all of everyone’s favorite Japanese treat, it’s pretty important to get it perfectly. Well, at least as close to perfect as one can get. There’s a few important tricks to getting it right but one of the main ones is rinse, rinse, rinse that rice. There’s technically enough starch inside the grains to make everything get sticky, so if you don’t wash off the stuff on the outside you’re going to get one giant, goopy ball of rice, which is no fun for anyone involved. Also, it’s all about the balance of the rice, vinegar, salt and sugar so make sure you’ve got the measurements down. The final product should be slightly sticky, slightly sweet and slightly salty rice that’s easy to work with and tastes like a million yen.

In this online cooking course, we explore how to make sushi rice. Once you get this tricky recipe in your apron, you’ll be an unstoppable sushi-making force! Try out your skills using this amazing Sushi Nigiri recipe!

Sushi Rice
3 cups sushi rice
3 ¼ cups water
1 cup sushi vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt

1. Rinse the rice in strainer or colander until the water runs clear. Combine with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice stand for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make sushi vinegar. Dissolve sugar, salt and rice vinegar. Mixture should taste sweet and sour with a hint of saltiness.
3. Transfer rice to a large bowl. Pour ½ cup of sushi vinegar over rice and combine gently. “Cut” into the rice using a rubber spatula. Do not stir or overwork rice. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.