Some fans of Japanese food may be unaware of how to cook Japanese rice correctly as many of us are brought up only cooking Indian rice, however the preparation is quite different. We will show you how to make great tasting rice, perfect for all Japanese dishes. On top of that, we’ll show you how to turn your rice into vinegared rice to make any type of healthy sushi. And remember, there’s no such thing as sushi rice – sushi can be made from any Japanese rice.
• 300g (2 small cups) of Japanese Rice
• 360ml of Water
• Medium size sauce pan with a lid
• Measuring cup
Wash Rice : Add plenty of water to the bowl then gently stir and mix the rice with your hand. Pour the water away when it becomes cloudy and keep the rice in the bowl with your hand and repeat up to 3-5 times or until the water becomes clear.
Boil Rice : Add the rice and 360ml of water to your sauce pan and put on the stove at maximum heat until the water boils. Once the water boils, turn down the heat to minimum and let the rice simmer for about 15-20 minutes. (Make sure to keep the lid on the sauce pan at all times).
Steam Rice : Once it has simmered, remove the sauce pan from the stove and leave the rice to steam for a further 10-15 minutes for authentic Japanese stickiness.
Serve and Enjoy : Once the rice has finished steaming, mix well with a shamoji, or Japanese rice paddle, and serve into bowls. You can then use a choice of toppings such as furikake, Japanese pickles or sauce for extra flavour.
NOW TURN IT INTO SUSHI RICE!
Requirements: 80ml of Sushi Vinegar
Optional: Wooden Sushi Bowl
To make sushi rice, the cooked rice needs to be mixed with sushi vinegar, which is Japanese rice vinegar mixed with salt and sugar. Mix 80ml of sushi vinegar (or about 12% of the total cooked rice weight) with the rice. To get the best flavour, the vinegar needs to be folded into the rice while it is still warm. As you are mixing the rice and vinegar together, use a fan to cool the rice and remove the moisture. Your sushi rice is now ready to be used in all types of delicious sushi. For best results use a wooden sushi bowl (sushi oke) to mix and cool the rice.
I’m probably going to appear to be a complete idiot here but I assume at stage four your drain the rice and leave to sit or do you allow the rice to soak in the water until ready to serve.
@Big Swee
No stupid questions only stupid answers, right? :)
Oh and only 6 months in waiting, here’s the reply (which you probably found out yourself) :D
You add so little water to the rice that you don’t need to drain, it’ll all be absorbed by the rice. If not, leave on the stove a little longer before stage 4 or turn the heat up a little during stage 4. ‘Minimum heat’ is very individual from stove to stove. Also for variation add kombu to the water during cooking for additional flavour and (as I do) leave the rice to soak in cold water an hour or so before boiling :)