The best authentic Japanese sushi rice recipe on the planet!

This sushi rice recipe was passed to me by my Japanese mother, now in her 80s, who passed it on to her in the 1940s.

My mother, who was always looking for ways to improve her own recipes, talked to many popular sushi chefs in Japan (mainly in the Osaka and Nagasaki areas) to try to piece together the “secret” of their sushi rice to improve her own. recipe.

Did those sushi chefs always share? No. Most were very protective of their prescriptions. Goal… some did…even if it was just a “hint”…

So what started out as a family sushi rice recipe that my mom passed down to my mom and then to me, was also tweaked and perfected over the decades resulting in what I believe to be the best sushi rice recipe ever. of the planet. .

And now, here it is for you.

Sushi rice recipe from my 80 year old Japanese mother

Ingredients and supplies you will need:

2 cups Japanese short-grain white rice

2 tablespoons sake (such as Gekkeikan) plus enough water to fill a 2-cup measure

4 x 6-inch piece of Kombu (Dashi Kombu/dried seaweed)

4 tablespoons plain Japanese rice vinegar (such as Marukan or Mizkan)

5 tablespoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Small electric fan or hand fan, cooker or rice cooker, rice paddle

We need to talk about each of these ingredients just a little bit and the importance of not skipping even one of them.

Japanese Short Grain White Rice

Japanese short grain is the most sticky and is the best to use in this recipe. If you can’t find a short grit, you can use a medium grit in a pinch, but the result won’t be as good. Also, look for rice that is no more than a year old if possible. Ask your Japanese grocer for “Shinmai,” which means “current year’s crop.”

The reason you want “Shinmai” is because the older a rice ages, the more water it takes to soften it. With a year’s harvest in progress, the measure of rice to irrigate is normally 1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water.

When a rice is more than a year old, it is more difficult to maintain consistency when cooking it because you have to measure how many plus water you need to add to soften it to the right texture.

Shinmai takes care of that.

You’ll also need to get the kind that you have to wash, not the pre-washed variety. Again, this is for consistency. Prewash cooking requirements are different from the type you have to wash. We don’t want to have a problem with that. Get the type you have to wash.

japanese rice vinegar

Get the plain rice vinegar here, not the pre-made sushi seasoning. To make the best sushi rice, you need to make your own sushi rice seasoning.

kombu

Normally used to make dashi, kombu is also great for making sushi rice. This is one of my mother’s secrets. Don’t skip this article.

Reason

Sake is another “secret” ingredient in this recipe. Gekkeikan is a good enough sake for this and is available at most liquor stores. Don’t skip this article either.

Sugar and common table salt are self explanatory.

Make the sushi rice seasoning

Add the 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 5 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a bowl. Mix this vigorously until all the sugar dissolves. What you can do is mix it up periodically as you wash, soak, and cook the rice in the following steps.

washing the rice

Place the rice in a heavy-bottomed regular pot or rice cooker and cover with cold tap water. Move the rice with your hand to wash it. The water will turn white. Drain the water and repeat this washing process 4-6 times or until the water runs almost clear.

Let the rice drain in a colander for 30 minutes.

soak the rice

I’ll assume you’re using a regular pot or a plain rice cooker. With a “fancy” rice cooker (the ones with all the bells and whistles) sometimes you don’t need to soak the rice first and let it steam last. If you have one of those, follow the directions on that rice cooker.

1. After the rice has drained in the strainer, add it to the pot.

2. Now, add the 2 tablespoons of sake to a 2-cup measure and fill the rest with water. I recommend using bottled water, especially if you have tap water that tastes weird. This again adds to the consistency of your sushi rice. Add the water to your pot.

3. Brush the Kombu a little and put it in the pot with the rice and water. Push it down into the rice to keep it underwater and not float to the top.

4. Let this rice soak for 20 minutes.

5. At the end of 20 minutes, the rice should have turned “white.” Is this what we want.

cook the rice

1. If using a plain rice cooker, turn it on. If you’re using a regular pot, turn the heat up to high until it starts to boil and then turn it back down to low and place the lid on top.

2. Cook this rice over low heat for 15 minutes and then turn off the stove. Your rice cooker at this point will shut off on its own.

3. Let the rice rest in the pot or rice cooker for 20 minutes. This is important. This allows the rice to “steam”. Do not remove the lid from the pot or rice cooker at any time during this cooking and steaming process.

4. At the end of the 20-minute steaming period, remove the lid and use a wooden spoon or rice paddle to turn the rice over a few times to mix and fluff it up.

5. Replace the lid for another 5 minutes.

mix sushi rice

The following steps will need to be done quickly when you add all the ingredients to the hangiri or bowl, so be prepared. You will also need to have a constant source of wind blowing over the rice, such as a small electric fan or handheld fan, as you mix the rice with the sushi rice seasoning.

1. Point a small electric fan over the mixing bowl and turn it on (or prepare to use a small handheld fan).

2. Pour the hot rice into a hangiri or bowl (remove the kombu) and then pour the sushi rice seasoning all over the rice.

3. Begin turning the rice constantly with a wooden spoon or rice paddle, being careful not to crush the rice grains. At the same time, fan the rice or have the electric fan blow over the rice while mixing.

4. Keep mixing the rice until all the liquid it is fully absorbed and the rice has a nice sheen. When in doubt, keep chilling and mixing the rice until you’re sure.

When all of the liquid is absorbed, your sushi rice is ready to use in any sushi recipe you like.