Sushi Rice
Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 7 Steps 12
Sushi rice, termed sushi meshi or shari in Japanese, is a key ingredient for sushi and a staple of Japanese cooking. It consists of short-grain rice dressed with seasoned vinegar called sushisu. The rice is then cooled and dried for easy manipulation and to give a glistening appearance. The Japanese measure their uncooked rice using a measurement called a Gō. This is roughly equivalent to 150 grams when used to…
Ingredients
Rice
- 2 gō (300 g) uncooked, washed, short-grain Japanese rice
- 400 ml water
- 1 small sheet of kombu (optional)
- 1 metric tablespoon (15 ml) sake (optional)
Sushisu
- 3 metric tablespoons (45 ml) of rice vinegar
- 1–2 metric tablespoons (12–24 g) of sugar (depending on how sweet you prefer it)
- 1–1.5 metric teaspoons of sea salt
Steps
- About 30 minutes before starting, fill the hangiri with water. Let stand.
- Make the sushisu: mix the vinegar, sugar and salt. Heat in a saucepan until dissolved; do not boil. Cool.
- Rinse the rice: put it in the cooking pot half filled with cold water. Swirl by hand. Drain. Repeat until the water stays clear.
- Let the rice stand 30 minutes, either submerged in its cooking water or drained in a colander.
- Add an 8 cm sheet of kombu to the cooking pot, with the sake if using.
- Boil the water.
- Remove the kombu as the water boils. Reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Keep covered 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid.
- Transfer the rice to the hangiri, or a large bowl or cookie sheet.
- Cut the sushisu into the rice with the paddle without breaking the kernels, using a cut-and-fold motion. The rice should be evenly coated and shiny.
- Cover the rice with a cloth for a couple of minutes to absorb the dressing.
- Fan the rice to body temperature while continuing to cut with the spatula.
Notes from the original
- A rice-cooker is often used instead of a cooking pot; these generally produce good, consistent results. The manufacturer's directions will generally be similar to the above.
- The rice and sushisu should be mixed immediately after the rice is finished cooking with sushisu at room temperature.
- Some sushi chefs prefer natural cooling, rather than fanning, and instead let the rice rest in the hangiri for 15 minutes, then re-cut the rice, and continue with this process until the rice is cool.
- According to some, the faster the rice cools, the better (but see above about natural cooling, which yields a slightly different texture). The rice is best if used quickly: you can use it to make sushi for a few hours; it certainly cannot be prepared a day early.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Sushi Rice” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.