242 – How to Make Sushi Rice – Japanese Recipe / كيفية تحضير أرز السوشي

Ingredients :

• 2 cups uncooked Sushi Rice (short grain Japanese white rice)
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions :

Step 1: Preparing the Sushi Rice
1- To make sushi, you first need to make the rice. The success of the sushi roll depends highly on the rice.
2- We are going to use short grain Japanese rice. You can buy it online or in a Japanese store, just ask for “rice for sushi”.
3- We will also need rice vinegar, white sugar, and salt. The ingredients are pretty simple, you just have to be careful about the method of preparing the rice.
4- The first step is to rinse the rice. Place the rice in a large bowl and pour cold water on top of it, until it covers the rice. Then drain the rice from the water right away.
5- Gently, using your finger tips, mix the rice grains (that are now wet) to clean them for about 1 minute.
6- Rince the rice again by pouring clean cold water until the rice is covered. 7- Then pour the water out of the rice immediately. Repeat 4-5 times until the water is very clear when poured out from the rice.
8- Finally, pour clean cold water on the rice, and let the rice sit in the water for about 30 minutes.

Step 2: Cooking the Rice
1- Place the rice along the water where it was sitting, in a pot, and cook, covered, on high heat until the water starts boiling.
2- Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking the rice for 2 minutes. The pot should be covered at all times.
3- After 2 minutes, do not open the lid, and reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking the rice for an additional 10 minutes.
4- After 10 minutes, check on the rice to see if it’s ready (taste it). If the rice is ready, remove it from the heat, and let it sit in counter for another 10 minutes (the rice will be steaming). The pot should be covered. If the rice is not ready, then continue cooking it.

Step 3: Preparing the Sushi Vinegar
1- While the rice is cooking, prepare the sushi vinegar.
2- In a large bowl, mix the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Use a whisk to mix these ingredients.
3- Let the mixture sit until it is used in the rice.

Step 4: Mixing the Rice and Sushi Vinegar
1- The final step is to mix the cooked rice with the sushi vinegar.
2- Place the rice in a wood bowl and add a little bit of the sushi vinegar. Using a wooden spoon, cut through the rice to mix in the sushi vinegar. Do not stir, you have to do a ‘slicing’ movement with the wooden spoon. Taste the rice and adjust the amount of sushi vinegar to your taste. The rice should not be “wet”.
3- Cover the rice bowl with a wet towel while making the sushi rolls, so that the rice does not get dry.