The stuff that real Japanese people make in their homes everyday...
with that said...
Let's get started!
Picking your Rice for this Sushi Rice Recipe
You won't usually find instructions for selecting and buying your rice in almost any other sushi rice recipe found on the internet, but it cannot be ignored.This is a core requirement of this sushi rice recipe and critical for making the best sushi rice.
Get the Japanese Short Grain White Rice...
First, you want the super premium Japanese short grain white rice for this sushi rice recipe. Two of the very best that you can get here in the U.S. (in my opinion) are Tamaki Gold and Tamanishiki. In that order.
If you want to get a brown rice version of the 2 choices above, look at the amazon carousel below for "Tamaki Haiga" or "Tamanishiki Super Premium Brown Rice". Both are of the same high quality except that superior polishing techniques allows for the bran to remain on the rice grain with these two technically making them slightly healthier choices.
And don't worry, they are both still glutinous enough for your sushi and taste delicious. I personally use Tamaki Haiga all the time. It has a slightly "nutty" flavor that is hard to beat...
Now for a little more on what glutinous is and why it is important.
Japanese eat rice that is more glutinous than some other asian countries. The more glutinous a rice is, the better it sticks together making it easier to pick up with chopsticks or form into sushi rolls or rice balls.
The short grain rice is the most glutenous. As you move from short to medium to long grain rice becomes less and less glutenous.
And I don't want to try to split hairs here, because if you want to make the "best" sushi rice you should try to use the short grain. But... with that said, you CAN use medium grain if you can't find a short grain rice (Kokuho Rose and Nishiki both are a medium grain and would be an adequate choice if I could not find a premium short grain Japanese rice). Just try to buy a premium quality that is "First Crop" or "New Variety".
As a side note, that is why in some other asian countries (where they eat less glutinous rice) they can be seen eating their rice with a spoon... because it doesn't hold together and can't be picked up well with chopsticks.
Look for "First Crop" or "New Variety" on the bag for this Sushi Rice Recipe...
Good standard brands that are widely available in the U.S. are Kokuho Rose and Nishiki. Because of this, many people end up picking those up or getting them in sushi kits even though they are really just a 'B' grade variety of rice for sushi.
Premium ones to look for again in the U.S. are, Tamaki Gold and Tamanishiki. In Japan, the Koshikikari variety is the most popular and preferred rice cultivated in Japan. And actually, Koshihikari harvested in Uonuma area of Niigata Prefecture is normally the most expensive rice in Japan.
Tamaki Gold is a California grown Koshikikari that is excellent. It is on par with the best Koshikikari cultivated in Japan.
Tamanishiki is also a California grown rice that uses two kinds of super premium quality short grain rice; Koshikikari and Yuma Gokochi. The combination of the two creates both great flavor and a wonderful texture.
Whichever brand of rice you decide to pick, you want to try to get the rice that is labeled "First Crop" or "New Variety". This rice is picked in the fall and is the best rice for Sushi.
Also, try to find a date on the bag that shows that the rice is no more than a year old, if possible. The older the rice is, the harder it is and the more water it takes to soften; making it more difficult to make good sushi rice.
Ask your Japanese Grocer if the rice is "Shinmai"
If you happen to pick up your rice in a good Japanese Grocery store, ask the owner for his or her suggestion for a good sushi rice and also ask if the rice is "Shinmai". Especially if your rice doesn't have "First Crop" or "New Variety" on the bag. Some excellent rice for sushi won't have "First Crop" or "New Variety" on the bag but will only have "premium short grain rice" on it. In this case, ask your grocer to be sure.
To your grocer, "Shinmai" will mean current years crop and just might impress him (or her), possibly earning you a few brownie points!
Buy the Rice you have to wash, NOT the pre-washed rice for this Sushi Rice recipe
And one more thing before we move on. There is a new type of rice out that has been "pre-washed". This rice does not require the normal rinsing to remove the "starch" that is present with the standard short grain white rice.
Our sushi rice recipe is NOT based on using the "pre-washed" rice. So if your grocer has both, pickup the regular rice that has to be rinsed. The reason being is that the water amounts and even the cooking settings on the fancy rice cookers have to take this into account because they do cook differently.
Visit our Sushi Rice page to get a lot more background on sushi rice in general.
Ok... back on track...
While you are picking up the Rice, also pickup...
- Japanese rice vinegar (or pre-made Sushi Seasoning only if you can't get regular rice vinegar). This is required. Any good quality rice vinegar will do. Both Mizkan and Marukan are both popular and widely available in U.S. grocery stores. Go here to learn more about rice vinegar in general.
- Kombu (dried seaweed). If you can find it (most Japanese grocery stores will have it, if not you can get it here). If you want to follow my mother's recipe to a tee you'll need to obtain some. Around a 4" x 6" piece should do it for making one batch of sushi rice with this sushi rice recipe. To learn about kombu go here.
- Sake. You can find this in any liquor store. And again, it is optional but it won't be exactly like mother's sushi rice recipe and won't be as good without it...(it's the little details that make the difference). Normally I keep Gekkeikan sake on hand for this.
Before you decide to skip both "optional" items, Kombu and Sake in this sushi rice recipe, let me try to talk you out of it.
I asked my mother why she felt like they were both required and the first thing she said was, "You do want to know how to make Sushi Rice don't you? Because it won't be good sushi rice without it".
Then I said again, "But WHY?"
She then followed up with,
"The Kombu and Sake are both ingredients you use in making good dashi so it gives your sushi rice nice hints of good dashi flavor".
Ahhh! So THAT'S the real reason...
For those that may not know, dashi is a common cooking stock used in a lot of japanese soups like miso and clear broth. Similar to how we use chicken stock in the U.S.
Now, I don't know if you just noticed, but we just witnessed good old fashioned Japanese home cooking in action folks...
the "secret" part of her sushi rice recipe... :-)
No other sushi rice recipe that I have seen on the internet (or anywhere actually...well...at least until now...) use both kombu and sake but I will tell you that I think it does make the best sushi rice.
Try it for yourself, both with and without sake and kombu and let me know what you think!
But Shhhhh... remember... its our little secret...
Rice Cooker, Fancy Rice Cooker or just a plain old Pot?
All in all, I don't think it really matters.
Personally, I have two Zojirushi's. A simple one button one (NHS-10 6 cup) on the left above, and a fancier one (NS-ZCC18) in the middle above that uses the "fuzzy logic" technology that does all of the thinkin' for you (I just love this unit.) It will pre-soak, cook, and steam the rice after cooking for you; all you have to do is wash the rice, put it in the pan, add water and push a button or two.
If you want to learn everything you ever wanted to know about all the different models of Zojirushi rice cookers, visit my review page here.
But overall, rice cookers are nice to have to make things more convenient and to give you more options (like settings for regular rice, sushi rice, keep warm, etc.,). And they do make the rice cooking process more consistent.
In this sushi rice recipe however, we will focus on using a plain old non-stick cooking pot with a lid. Everybody has one, and it will allow those who have not yet committed to investing in a rice cooker to experience the joy and pleasure of making sushi rice with this sushi rice recipe.
The process can be slightly different between using a pot as opposed to using a fancy dancy rice cooker but we'll focus on the pot method first and will cover the minor differences when using different rice cookers afterwards.