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The rice is the whole job. Get the seasoning and the cooling right and even wonky rolls taste like the real thing.
How do you cook sushi rice?
Rinse 300 g of short grain sushi rice until the water runs clear, then cook it with 360 ml of water for 12 minutes with the lid on and rest for 10. While it rests, warm 60 ml rice vinegar with 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt, then fold the mix through the hot rice and cool it to room temperature.
What rice do you need?
Japanese short grain rice, sold as sushi rice. The grains are short, round and high in the starch that makes cooked rice cling, which is what holds a roll together. Long grain rice, including jasmine and basmati, will not stick and cannot be used.
Yutaka and Clearspring both sell it in UK supermarkets. Chinese and Japanese grocers carry larger, cheaper bags. Korean short grain rice works too.
The rice to water ratio
Use 1.2 times the weight of the rice in water, so 300 g of rice to 360 ml. Sushi rice takes less water than most rice, because the vinegar dressing adds liquid at the end. Cook it wet and the seasoned rice turns to paste.
Step by step
- Rinse 300 g of sushi rice in cold water four or five times, until the water runs clear rather than milky.
- Drain and leave the rice in the sieve for 15 minutes so it absorbs the clinging water evenly.
- Put it in a heavy pan with 360 ml of cold water. Bring to the boil uncovered.
- Cover, drop to the lowest heat, and cook for 12 minutes without lifting the lid.
- Off the heat, lid on, rest for 10 minutes.
- Warm 60 ml rice vinegar with 2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tsp salt until dissolved. Do not boil it.
- Tip the hot rice into a wide, shallow non metal tray. Pour the vinegar mix over a spatula so it spreads.
- Cut through the rice with the edge of the spatula, folding rather than stirring, while fanning it. Stop when it is at room temperature and glossy.
The vinegar seasoning
The dressing is called sushi-zu and is three ingredients: rice vinegar, sugar and salt. For 300 g of uncooked rice, use 60 ml vinegar, 2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tsp fine salt. Warm it gently to dissolve, then cool slightly before it meets the rice.
Some cooks add a 5 cm piece of kombu to the warm vinegar for extra savoury depth, then lift it out before use.
Why you fold and fan the rice
Cutting motions separate the grains without crushing them, and fanning drives off surface steam so the rice turns glossy instead of wet. Stirring mashes the starch and gives you a paste. A wide tray matters more than the traditional wooden hangiri, because it spreads the rice thin.
Storage
Seasoned sushi rice is at its best within a few hours and should be kept covered with a damp cloth at room temperature, not in the fridge. Cold hardens the starch and the grains turn chalky. Any rice you are not using the same day should be cooled fast, refrigerated and eaten within a day.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use normal rice for sushi?
No. Long grain rice has the wrong starch balance and the grains will not hold together. Short grain Japanese or Korean rice is the only sensible option. Arborio is closer than basmati but still too soft once cooked.
Can I make sushi rice in a rice cooker?
Yes, and it is easier. Use the same 1.2 to 1 ratio and the white rice setting. Season and cool the rice exactly as you would from the hob, in a wide tray rather than in the cooker bowl.
Why is my sushi rice mushy?
Too much water, or the rice was stirred instead of folded. Drop to 1.2 times the rice weight in water and use cutting strokes with the edge of a spatula when the vinegar goes in.
What can I use instead of rice vinegar?
White wine vinegar with a little extra sugar is the closest swap. Use 50 ml vinegar plus 30 ml water in place of 60 ml rice vinegar, since it is sharper. Malt and balsamic are both wrong for this.
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- Sushi rice. Short grain rice, the type sushi needs.
- Rice vinegar. Seasons the rice once it is cooked.
