How to Make Sushi Rice
This recipe is brought to you by Chef Jason Do - Minami Toronto Executive Sous Chef.
In the early days of sushi consumption in Japan, people used to preserve fish by wrapping it in fermented rice. The fermented rice would be thrown away when the fish was ready to eat.
As time went on, vinegar was added to the rice instead of fermenting it to make it last longer. The vinegar-flavoured rice tasted so good with the fish that people started to naturally eat it together. That was the beginning of sushi as we know it today!
Today’s sushi rice has a sticky texture and is flavoured with sugar and vinegar to support the shape and the flavours that would complement any fillings or toppings.
For ingredients, you’ll need:
¾ cup of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups of sushi rice
Please note that not all rice is the same, which is why it’s very important to make sure you have short-grain white Japanese rice, it should say “sushi rice” right on the packaging.
Preparing the rice:
Grab a bowl and place your rice in it and add some cold water. Stir the rice with your hand and gently massage the starch out of the rice.
Repeat this step 3-4 times until the water is clear when you're washing the rice.
After the rice has drained, put the rice in the rice cooker with the 3 cups of water, cover, and start.
If you don't have a rice cooker, place rice and water in a pot over medium-high heat; bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let rice rest, covered, for 15 additional minutes.
While rice is cooking, prepare the vinegar:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt.
Heat mixture just until the sugar dissolves without bringing it to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
When the rice is done cooking, gently spread out the rice over a cookie sheet. Evenly distribute the cooled vinegar mixture over the rice. Gently turn rice over from time to time with rice paddle or wooden spatula so that rice cools evenly.
Once you’ve used all your seasoned vinegar on the rice, you can now use the rice for any type of sushi you’d like!
And that’s how you make sushi rice at home! Thank you for tuning in to this recipe of Aburi at Home Kitchen.
To watch our tutorial video on YouTube, click here.