Well-cooked and seasoned Sushi rice can serve as the perfect canvas for showcasing the flavours of your favourite sushi creations.
If you’ve ever wanted to recreate that deliciously sticky, flavour-packed rice you find in your favourite sushi rolls, then you’re in for a treat.
Sushi Rice, also known as “shari” in Japanese, is the foundation of every great sushi dish. It’s not just any rice – it’s short-grain rice that’s been cooked to perfection and seasoned with a special blend of vinegar, sugar, and salt. This seasoning not only adds flavour but also helps to give the rice its characteristic sticky texture, making it easier to work with when rolling sushi.
But the magic doesn’t stop there – Sushi Rice is also about texture. Each grain should be plump and tender, with just the right amount of bite. Achieving this perfect texture requires careful attention to detail during the cooking process, including rinsing the rice, soaking it before cooking, and using the correct water-to-rice ratio. And this recipe leaves nothing to guess-work 😉
3
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minutesIngredients
1 cup sushi rice
1½ cup water
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp sugar
Directions
- Prepare the Sushi Vinegar
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and microwave at 40% for 1½-2 mins. Warm enough to dissolve the sugar.
- Cook on a stovetop
- Rinse rice: Put the rice in a mesh sieve/strainer and rinse under cold water for 2 mins (until the water clears up). Don’t rush this step. You need to take the time to rinse out all the starch or the rice gets overly sticky and hard to handle after cooking.
- Put the rice and water in a saucepan. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cook for 15 mins. At this point, all the water should have been absorbed. Take off the heat and take it out in a wide wooden or glass dish. I used a glass pie dish.
- Cook in an instant pot (rice setting)
- Rinse the rice.
- Put the rice and water in the instant pot. Stir. Set to “rice” + medium + low pressure and let it cook for 12 mins (auto-suggested time by the instant pot). Natural release and then vent.
- Cool the rice
- While the rice is hot, add the sushi vinegar to it and using a wooden spoon stir to simultaneously mix and cool the rice. At this point, you’re trying to cool the rice while also mixing the vinegar in evenly without mashing it. So do this with a light hand. You might have to do this for a few minutes to let all the steam out. Once the rice has cooled down, cover with a slightly damp tea towel (so it doesn’t dry out) and set aside to cool at room temperature (do not refrigerate to cool). When the rice is cool, it’s ready to be used.
