Perfect Sushi Rice

Adapted just slightly from Alton Brown

When I first started considering making sushi, I knew the first thing I needed to get right was the rice. The Basmati rice that we love so much just wasn’t going to work for this purpose. So I did some research and found a good sushi rice … and then I needed a good sushi rice recipe. I looked over several, but I settled on one from Alton Brown, because I trust that Alton Brown would know how to do a proper sticky sushi rice. And, yep, I was right.

One of the biggest bits of advice I found online was if you’re going to make sushi, have to choose a good sushi rice. Rather than looking about for an Asian market in town (I’ve found some of our local ethnic markets can be a little iffy … ), I ordered my sushi rice from Amazon, choosing one that got good reviews. I got the Kokuho Rose Sushi Rice, and a sushi making kit since I had absolutely no confidence in my sushi-making abilities. I also bought my nori on Amazon, choosing one that reviews said had really good flavor.

Here’s the rice I used … I’m struggling to make the Amazon widget smaller … I didn’t mean for it to take up half my post!

This rice turned out so good and sticky, I knew I had mastered my sushi rice on the first try. It’s not very hard, but it does take some time. I made the rice one night and put it in a container in the fridge for later, when I could build up enough confidence to try my hand at making sushi. One of my first “real” sushi attempts is pictured here … a smoked salmon, cucumber, cream cheese sushi. It’s not perfect by any means, but not too bad for a beginner sushi chef, methinks. And really, when you’re making sushi at home, it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to taste good.

But the RICE has to be perfect. It’s a good thing that this part is easy.

Perfect Sushi Rice

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: About 4 cups of rice 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups sushi rice
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt

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Instructions

1. Put the rice in a small mixing bowl, fill most of the way with water and swirl around with your fingers. Pour the rice into a colander to rinse out the water, spray the rice well to remove any excess starch, then put back in the bowl and repeat a few times until the water stays clear when you swirl the rice around.
2. Place the rice and 2 1/4 cups water in a nonstick saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes or until the rice is perfectly tender. Remove from heat and, leaving the cover on, let it cool for about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Once the rice is done resting, stir this mixture into the rice, stirring to coat all the rice with the sticky mixture. The rice should be very, very sticky.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2016, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

I got the Sushiquik Sushi Kit too. It was definitely helpful in getting started! You can get a bamboo mat if you like, but people often cover them with plastic wrap so the rice doesn’t stick … a silicon baking mat actually works great for rolling sushi because it doesn’t stick. 

This recipe was shared at Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie FriDIY and Home Matters.