Sushi Rice Recipe

Sushi chefs in Japan train for years just to master the art of making sushi rice alone. Their recipe, method, and technique for making sushi rice is so precious that they often do not allow anyone else in the kitchen to make the rice. Every sushi chef has different ingredients and techniques for their rice. These are the methods that I have been taught for making sushi rice.

First you will need:
-Hangiri (wooden tub for mixing sushi)If you don't have one, I suppose a very large, wide bowl should do just fine as a substitute
-Rice paddle
-Bowl for transferring sushi

-2 cups medium/short-grain white rice (dry measure)
-1/3 cup Sushi-Zu (Recipe for sushi-zu is below)


Sushi-Zu Recipe:
Mix the following ingredients in a container.
-7 part rice vinegar
-5 part white sugar
-1 part salt (2 parts if you're using sea salt)
-1 piece konbu (dried kelp)

Cover the sushi-zu and leave it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 weeks. This will allow all the flavors to meld together. If you're running short on time, you may also combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat, until the sugar and salt dissolve. You can always double up, or make more sushi-zu in advance if you're planning on making a lot of sushi in the near future.


Now to make the sushi rice:

Take your hangiri, and using a wet cloth, soak the wood all around the bottom and edges. This will prevent the rice from sticking while you're mixing.

Next take your cooked rice with two cloths and put it face down on the hangiri. Remember to follow the recipe in the previous post for making rice. Also, timing is everything. You must start mixing the sushi rice as soon as the rice is done cooking (or within 5-10 minutes of it finishing) The rice needs to be hot while you're mixing it with sushi-zu.

Lift up the rice pot, leaving the cooked rice on the hangiri. (My rice pot does not leave the rice sticking on the sides, but many rice pots may do so. To avoid this, make sure to wet a rice paddle and lift the rice off the edges before flipping it over)

Pour the 1/2 cup of sushi-zu and start spreading the rice all over the hangiri, remembering to use a slicing motion instead of mashing. This must all be done within 2 minutes because the vinegar must mix with the rice while the rice is still hot.

Next, using the paddle, start lifting off the rice from the bottom left and move it all over to the right hand side, creating a pile of rice.

From here, start using a rapid slicing motion with the paddle (from right to left), and begin "cutting" the rice. The purpose of this is to break down each grain of rice, and to avoid clumping. At this point, the rice should still be hot so be sure to work fast. You are still mixing some of the remaining vinegar.

Continue cutting the rice until all lumps are gone, and the rice is spread evenly across the hangiri. Let the rice cool down and rest for 5 minutes.

Flip the rice over using the paddle, one section at a time. Let rest for another 5 minutes.

Pour the rice into a large bowl. You can also pour it into a large rice pot. That's it. You're done!
I also want to mention that you do not necessarily have to use 2 cups of rice and 1/3 cup of sushi-zu. The general rule is about 1 cup of sushi-zu per 6 cups of dry rice, or about 15-17% sushi-zu. You can adjust the sushi rice recipe to how many cups of rice you will need, but just be sure to use similar proportions of sushi-zu.

Enjoy!