Sushi Rice: the secret to perfect sushi rice

About sushi rice

Sushi rice is called sushimeshi or sumeshi which is made out of rice, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Every sushi restaurant and family has its own recipe for their sumeshi. Use different types of vinegar, like white rice vinegar (the majority of people use it for sumeshi) or akazu red vinegar (edomae style sushi restaurants often use). There also have different vinegar, sugar, and salt ratio for each restaurant and family,  plus, how much sushi vinegar to use for the rice. My mom’s recipe is a little bit on the sweeter side but you can always adjust for your favorite ratio. 

Which rice should I use for sushi rice?

Make sure to use short-grain rice for sumeshi. There are so many varieties and grades of short-grain rice. The choice is almost like choosing coffee beans. Koshihikari is one of the popular short-grain rice brands for sushi restaurants. We always enjoy the special taste of shinmai (new rice) which is the first crop of the season to be harvested in the autumn in Japan. However, many sushi restaurants do not use shinmai. Shinmai contains more moisture than old crops. The regular crop is less sticky so it’s perfect for making sushi rice.  These days, I order my rice from”the rice factory” https://trf-ny.com/. Their rice quality is terrific, so I highly recommend ordering your rice from them.

Japanese Rice Measuring Cup

When we scaling up the rice in Japan, we use a special rice measuring cup. It might come with it when you purchase the rice cooker. The Japanese rice measuring cup equals 180ml metric while a standard U.S cup equals 240ml. This is an old traditional Japanese measuring unit called “gō”. We still use this amount in Japan for a serving of rice and a cup of sake. So it’s very important to use this measurement when you cook rice with a rice cooker. When I cooking rice with the regular pot, I scale up the rice with U.S standard measuring cups. The most important part is maintaining the ratio of the rice to water. Normally 1:1 = rice: water, but for sushi rice, I do 1: 0.9 because we are adding the sushi vinegar.

Umami infused sushi vinegar

Please make your sushi vinegar ahead of time. Put a small piece of kelp in the vinegar while it’s warm and leave them overnight. This way, umami from the kelp infuses into your sushi vinegar. I learned this tip from a sushi chef from a famous sushi restaurant in New York.

Sushi Rice

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 1 hour Cooking Time: 30 minutes 30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

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Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked sushi rice (short grain)
• 1.8 cups of water
• 1 strip of Kelp (about 3 inches/ 7cm)
• 4 tbsp (60ml) of rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp(30g) of sugar
• 1 tbsp (5g) of salt

Instructions

 

1. Wash rice in cold water and rinse several times, until the washing water becomes clear. Strain and let sit to drain excess water.
   
   
2. Put the rice and kelp in the rice cooker or pot, add water. If you are using an electric rice cooker,  follow the instructions. Soak rice in water for 20 to 30 minutes, and start to cook.
   (For the sushi rice, we normally cook it a bit harder than regular cooked rice. This is because we are going to add a vinegar mixture. So little bit less water than when you cook the regular rice. The rice and water ratio should be about 1 to 0.9 )
   
   
3. Make Sushi Vinegar
   In a small pot, heat the rice vinegar. Add sugar and salt together and mix well to dissolve.
   
   
4. Once the rice is cooked, remove the kelp. Transfer the cooked rice to a moistened wooden sushi tub or a big bowl. Spread the rice out evenly, and pour the sushi vinegar over the rice. (Please add the vinegar mixture while the rice is very hot. Sushi rice will be sloppy if you add the vinegar when the rice is cold. )
   
   
5. With a rice spatula, hold and cut the rice, trying to make sure each grain of rice has been seasoned with the sushi vinegar.
   
   
6. Keep mixing until the rice temperature becomes human body temperature. You can also use a fan to cool it faster.
   
   
7. Keep the rice covered with a damp towel or paper towel at room temperature until ready to use. 
   

Notes

• I used a Japanese rice measuring cup for scale rice and water. You can also use a regular measuring cup for making rice.
• Every family and restaurant has a different ratio of sushi rice. My ratio is 2: 1 : 0.5 = vinegar : sugar : salt.  Please adjust the amount of sugar and salt as you prefer.