We all love sushi. And how can you not love them, because they are delicious, beautiful, and so healthy. At first glance, it seems that making sushi is quite difficult, but in reality it is not. It is important to know just a few simple rules, and the main thing is to know how to cook sushi rice. This is what this recipe is all about.
Ingredients:
(4-6 servings)
- 1.5 cups rice
- 2 glasses of water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 5%
- 3 tbsp. Sahara
- 1 tbsp. level spoon of sea salt
- Rice is the main ingredient for any sushi, so you need to thoroughly study all the intricacies and all the techniques for preparing rice, otherwise it will be simply impossible to prepare truly delicious sushi. You can buy the best and most expensive ingredients, but if the rice has not been cooked properly, then, unfortunately, the sushi will be cooked poorly. So take five minutes and read carefully how to cook sushi rice.
- Measure out one and a half cups of rice. You can buy special rice for sushi, or you can take regular, but good quality. Granulated or steamed rice is not suitable for sushi.
- Pour the rice into the pan.
- Pour cold water into the pan with rice. Lightly mix the rice with your hand so that the starch is better washed out of the grains. Due to the presence of starch, the water turns white and becomes opaque.
- Drain the water and fill it again. Repeat this procedure at least 8 times or until the water becomes crystal clear.
- Carefully drain all the water. Add 2 cups of boiling water to the pan with rice and put on fire.
- First cook the sushi rice over high heat. When the grains swell a little and almost reach the water level, reduce the heat to low. Cover the rice with a lid and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes.
- Ideally, a cauldron or saucepan with rice should not be “cooked” over an open fire, but should be placed in a hot oven so that the sushi rice is cooked in the oven.
- After this time, turn off the heat or remove the cauldron from the oven and leave the rice to steep for another 10 minutes.
- While the rice sits for the required time, prepare the sweet and sour mixture. To do this, mix apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan on the fire. Stirring, heat the mixture over low heat until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. There is no need to boil the mixture.
- Place the rice in a large bowl or plate.
- Pour the cooked sushi rice with sweet and sour sauce. Gently stir the rice so that the vinegar mixture is evenly distributed.
- Place the rice in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. After this period, sushi can be made from rice prepared using a special technology.
- As you can see, cooking sushi rice is not that difficult. But if you learn how to cook rice correctly, you can easily
What is the most important thing in sushi? It's difficult to answer unambiguously. The freshness of fish and seafood determines the degree of usefulness and safety of the product. Properly prepared sauce is responsible for the final taste and aftertaste. And following certain rules when cooking rice guarantees the aesthetics and appetizing appearance of the finished sushi. What can be said for sure is that the basis of all sushi is rice. Therefore, if you are going to prepare sushi at home, then you definitely need to know how to properly cook rice for sushi and its main variety called sushi.
How to choose and cook sushi rice? To prepare sushi, only short-grain rice, which is highly sticky, is used. It is this quality of rice that determines how neat and regular the shape of the future product will be. When choosing rice, you can choose any variety of small round rice - all of these varieties have good stickiness. But rice in packaging labeled “For sushi” is often a banal marketing ploy designed for simpletons.After choosing rice, decide on the amount you will need to prepare the dish. Rinse it well with cold water in a large bowl. Rice must be washed until the water becomes completely clear. Professional chefs believe that this requires “changing seven waters,” stirring the rice thoroughly each time.
Clean rice should be dried for 30-40 minutes, spreading it in a thin layer along the bottom of a wide sieve.
If you intend to cook sushi rice properly, be sure to use a deep, thick-walled pan with a thick bottom. After putting rice in it, fill it with cold water at the rate of one and a half glasses of water per glass of rice. Immediately add a piece of kombu - seaweed, which gives the rice a specific aroma. Cover the pan tightly with a lid and place over medium heat. When the kombu boils, you need to remove it, close the pan again and keep it on the stove for 15 minutes. Then turn off the stove and let the rice sit for another 20 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, you need to prepare a dressing that will give your rice the properties it needs for sushi. The main ingredients of the dressing are usually rice vinegar, salt and sugar. If you don't have rice vinegar, you can use white wine vinegar instead. It wouldn't hurt to add a little sake to the dressing, but you can do without this ingredient.
For two tablespoons of vinegar you need to take a teaspoon of sugar and salt. However, the ratio of ingredients is not constant and may change depending on the preferences of sushi lovers.
The ingredients prepared for the dressing should be mixed well in a small saucepan and placed over medium or low heat. Stirring constantly, keep the pan on the stove until all the grains of sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
When the rice is ready, it is transferred from the pan to a wide bowl. Pour the dressing evenly and quickly mix with a wooden spatula. This should be done with chopping movements so that the grains of rice separate from each other and do not turn into a sticky lump. Well-mixed rice will be completely soaked in the dressing. You need to let the rice cool slightly, to about 35 degrees, after which you can start preparing sushi.
Well, if you manage to find the freshest fish or seafood, your sushi will deserve the highest praise.
It’s hard to call sushi fast food. After all, rolling rolls is a real art, which is carefully learned from masters. And among the Japanese, eating sushi turns into a complex and lengthy ceremony. And although the ingredients for rolls and sashimi are, in general, simple products (rice, fish, seafood, soy sauce), preparing these dishes is quite difficult. But it is possible, even at home. In this article we will not talk about how to spin rolls. Let's focus on just one stage of their production - we'll discuss how to make sushi rice at home. This is the basis of the dish. If you compare rolls to fine art, rice is a primer for a painting, onto which the artist must apply paint. Yes, of course, the taste of sushi is determined by fish or seafood. But if the rice in them looks like porridge from kindergarten, all the art of creating this dish will come to naught.
Japanese vinegar and noria: preparing rolls yourself
Sushi requires special equipment - at least a makis, for professional rolling of products. Exotic products will also be required. For example, nori is sheets of dried and compressed edible seaweed. Or wasabi - a special horseradish paste. Gari - thin sheets of pickled ginger - is also difficult to make at home. But you can create Japanese vinegar yourself. To do this, you need to dissolve two large spoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt in a third of a cup of regular table (or apple) acidifier. We don't need very much Japanese vinegar. There are only two spoons for two glasses of rice. But it defines the basis of taste. Now let’s start preparing sushi rice at home. In this case, the recipes advise us not to show initiative, but to strictly adhere to the Japanese tradition. After all, it has been practiced for centuries.
What kind of rice is suitable for sushi?
As for cereals, they require special ones. Small and round grains containing a lot of gluten. In large supermarkets, special “Sushi Rice” is sold in special sections. At home, recipes suggest using Krasnodar or Crimean cereals. In appearance it resembles Japanese. Elite basmati is good for pilaf, but not for rolls. Sushi rolled from it will crumble. Also, there is no need to be clever and show imagination where this is not required: all sorts of steamed, brown, unpolished and wild varieties will not work. Also, masters of Japanese cuisine will reject rice in bags. Only round grains, polished and uncrushed, are suitable. If there is none, long-grain rice should be soaked in cold, preferably filtered, water for a couple of hours. Then rinse and set to cook.
Secrets of product replacement: how to turn Krasnodar rice into Japanese
The cereal, ripened in the flooded fields of the Land of the Rising Sun, is not only small and round, but also contains a large amount of gluten. It is thanks to her that the rolls keep their shape well. How to use for sushi at home? Recipes suggest that we rinse the cereal thoroughly. Pour two glasses into a sieve or fine colander and keep under running water until clean and clear water drains from the cereal. This way we will get rid of excess. Porridge for sushi should under no circumstances be crumbly. But an overly viscous and watery base will also not work. Therefore, the ratio of water and cereal when cooking porridge is the second very important condition for creating successful rolls.
How to cook sushi rice at home
The recipe asks us to pour cold water over the cereal. But if for pilaf or porridge we keep the proportions of one to two, then rolls require a different approach. There should be equal amounts of rice and water. The same amount of liquid should go into two glasses of cereal. “How will the porridge cook,” you ask, “will it burn?” The whole secret is how to prepare sushi rice at home. Recipes for creating pilaf, casseroles, babkas, baby porridges and rolls are very different. Rice is a universal cereal. It can be used to make a hard loaf-like bun, a pudding, or a viscous mixture. So, pour the washed rice with cold water and put it on the stove. It is best to take a saucepan with a thick bottom and not enameled. The ideal solution would be a small cauldron for pilaf. After the contents of the saucepan boil, cover it with a lid and cook for one minute over high heat. The time limit must be taken seriously - 60 seconds, no more and no less. Then the fire should be reduced. Do not remove the lid and cook the porridge for about fifteen to twenty minutes. As soon as we see that the liquid has completely evaporated, turn off the heat under the saucepan. Let stand covered for another ten minutes. This way we will get enough for sushi.
Recipe at home in a slow cooker
Many people doubt: can a machine make cereal for rolls? After all, Japanese chefs put their soul into every stage of preparing this incomparable dish. Let's cast aside all doubts. The multicooker not only copes with this task, but also creates the perfect rice for sushi. Cooking at home in a slow cooker will not take you much time. And the result will be even better than if you cooked the cereal in a pan. After all, you won’t need to open the lid, which means you won’t let steam out of the container, causing the rice to reach perfect stickiness. The only thing you should take care of is to rinse the cereal well. You need to pour a little more water - 2.5 measures of liquid for two glasses of grain. The multicooker bowl should be filled to no more than two-thirds of its volume. Set the “buckwheat” or “rice” mode. In machines of a different design, you can use the “Baking” program by setting the timer for ten minutes, and when the time is up, start the “Stewing” program for twenty minutes.
Authentic sauce
Even properly cooked cereal will remain a simple porridge if sauce is not added to it. An authentic Japanese sushi dressing includes mirin cooking wine (or sake vodka), special rice vinegar, sea salt and sugar. The base for the rolls gives a special charm. It is placed in the sauce when it is warmed up and later taken out. When combined, the dressing and rice should be approximately the same temperature - warm. Believe it or not, real masters cool the cereal with a fan so that it shines beautifully in the rolls. But on our agenda is sushi rice at home. Recipes, photos and useful tips teach us how to do without exotic ingredients and get a product that is as close to authentic as possible. So, let's prepare a sauce based on 250 grams of cereal.
What is rice vinegar
Although it is called Japanese, it was invented by the Chinese. According to some reports, this happened more than two thousand years ago. How was this vinegar prepared? The fish was cut into small pieces. Then they salted it and mixed it with rice. The enzymes released by the fish acted on the grain, and lactic acid was released. On the one hand, it preserved the fish, increasing its shelf life to a year, and on the other hand, it gave it a sour taste. In the fourth century AD, rice vinegar became famous in Japan. It was very expensive and was used only by the nobility. Vinegar became available to the common people only in the sixteenth century. Why are we providing all these details? To show that compared to other European sauces, rice sauce has the mildest taste. In addition, it is an excellent antibacterial agent. And if you take into account that in Japan raw fish is often served at the table, protecting yourself from various infections is very important. And most importantly, the sauce enhances the sushi rice. The recipe (following it at home is not a problem), which we will give below, assumes the presence of this vinegar. Getting it when the popularity of rolls around the world is growing is not so difficult. It is sold in the same stores as wasabi and nori seaweed.
Vinegar sauce
Well, let's season our sushi rice. The recipe at home is not much different from the one used in professional Japanese restaurants. The main thing is to have Mitsukan rice vinegar. It will require 180 milliliters. 120 grams of sugar and a spoonful of sea salt should be dissolved in this vinegar. It is also worth adding a small piece of kombu seaweed at the initial stage. After ten minutes it can be thrown away. Heat all the ingredients, but do not bring to a boil. Then cool, pour into a tightly sealed glass container and put in the refrigerator. That is, the sauce can be prepared for future use. But if you want to use a small amount for already cooked rice, cool the sauce to the temperature of the grain. Pour in a small amount of mirin or sake. If you don’t have Japanese alcohol on hand, don’t worry, we’ll skip this stage of preparation. Place the rice in a wide bowl. Pour over the sauce. Use a wooden spatula to carefully turn the rice over, but do not stir it (otherwise it will turn out to be porridge). Cool to room temperature. That's it, you can spin the rolls.
Rice Vinegar Alternative
All European types of acidulants have a more pronounced taste, so they need to be added in small quantities. There are several ways to prepare the dressing to pour over sushi rice. A recipe (at home) with apple cider vinegar is one of them. Mix a tablespoon of acidifier with a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of iodized salt. Add one and a half tablespoons of hot water to this solution. Stir until the crystals disappear completely. Pour this sauce over the rice.
Exotic Japanese cuisine is gaining more and more adherents. An exquisite combination of sweetish sauces, nori seaweed, fish and vegetables creates an indescribable taste sensation. Having mastered the secrets of how to cook sushi rice in a slow cooker or over an open fire, and how to prepare marinade, you can independently create real masterpieces of Japanese cuisine at home.
What kind of rice is needed for sushi?
According to the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun, food should not only nourish the body, but also bring aesthetic pleasure. The appearance of sushi and taste characteristics depend on the correct choice of the main ingredient. During the cooking process, special varieties of glutinous, sticky rice are used, which can be purchased in most supermarkets or specialty stores.
Long-grained, crumbly or steamed is best left for risotto and pilaf. The ideal option would be oval-shaped cereals of small size (2–3 mm):
- Dragon Rice. Perfectly sized, has a soft, delicate texture when cooked. Color – matte white. There are no cracks or roughness on the surface.
- Short grain Rice. Small grains measuring 3 mm are rich in starch, which gives the necessary stickiness during the cooking process. They are distinguished by a mother-of-pearl shade, without husks or irregularities.
If it is not possible to purchase special Japanese rice for sushi, pay attention to regular round-grain rice. So that the taste parameters do not differ much from traditional Japanese varieties, sort out the cereal before cooking the main ingredient. For sushi, leave only whole, uncracked grains of the same size and regular round shape.
Recipes for cooking sushi rice with photos
To boil rice you will need:
- glass bowl;
- wooden spoon;
- Ingredients:
- Japanese rice;
- good quality water for cooking;
- kombu seaweed (nori).
Before cooking rice, you must wash it thoroughly. The Japanese believe that taste directly depends on the purity and quality of the grain. Pour the required amount into a glass salad bowl and fill with water. After 1–2 minutes, carefully remove any floating husks and impurities with your hand. Drain off the cloudy water. Refill the bowl with cold liquid in a 1:2 ratio.
To remove “bad”, low-quality rice, gently move it through your fingers. It is necessary to rinse the cereal until the flowing water becomes clear, like spring water - at least 7 times. Then pour filtered water into the salad bowl and leave for half an hour. After time has passed, start cooking.
Cooking sushi rice in a saucepan
To prevent sushi rice from burning, use a heavy metal pan with a thick bottom. You will need:
- Japanese rice – 200 g;
- cold filtered water – 250 ml.
Place the thoroughly washed cereal into a saucepan. Fill with cold (add a couple of ice cubes) water using a ratio of 1:1.25. Add a small piece of kombu, 5x5 cm, for a subtle taste. Cover tightly and place over medium heat. When the cereal boils, remove the seaweed and close the lid tightly. How long should you cook sushi rice? Cooking time in a closed container until combined with the marinade will take about 30 minutes:
- Cook for 12 minutes on the lowest heat. The liquid must be completely absorbed so that the rice becomes sticky, grainy and fluffy.
- 15 minutes - the finished ingredient is infused, absorbing the remaining water.
How to cook sushi rice in a slow cooker
Pour thoroughly washed rice into the multicooker bowl. It is advisable to soak Japanese sushi varieties with cold water for half an hour. You will see the degree of readiness for cooking by the whitened grain, which will change its transparency to white. It is not recommended to soak ordinary round ones. Cooking sushi rice using a multicooker is not difficult:
Option 1 (when there is a “Steamer” function)
- Pour cold filtered water over the rice, maintaining a ratio of 1:1.25.
- Close the lid. Click the "Rice" or "Buckwheat" button. Set the timer for 10–12 minutes.
- After automatic shutdown, do not open the multicooker lid and allow the contents to completely absorb the liquid.
- Take out the cooked unleavened rice, pour it into a glass or wooden bowl using a wooden spatula and mix with the classic marinade.
Option 2
If the “Steamer” function is not available, it is possible to cook sushi rice in a multicooker using the “Baking” and “Stewing” modes. Divide the time it takes to cook as follows:
- 10 minutes – “Baking” function.
- 15–20 minutes – “Extinguishing” mode.
How to prepare dressing for rice
To prepare the marinade you will need:
- rice vinegar – 60 ml;
- sugar – 20 g;
- teaspoon sea salt.
While you are cooking sushi rice, place a container on the stove into which you pour rice vinegar (if you don’t have the latter, replace it with natural apple vinegar), add sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Place the cooked rice into a glass container with a spatula, pour over the dressing and mix gently.
Video: how to make perfect sushi rice
Do you want to learn how to cook the right rice to make sushi? Be patient and willing to master all the intricacies of Japanese cuisine. After all, in the land of the rising sun, sushi masters have years of training in the intricacies of preparing this dish. What secrets do you need to master in order to learn how to cook rice cereal perfectly? After watching our video with step-by-step instructions, you will be able to do it elegantly, and the result will exceed your expectations.
Tasty, healthy, healthy, exquisitely beautiful Japanese cuisine gave the world rolls and sushi. Many people still confuse these dishes, and for good reason.
They are actually very similar. The only difference is the method of serving and the amount of ingredients used.
The rolls are rice and fish pieces rolled in a special way, wrapped in a sheet of pressed nori seaweed. In essence, it is just a type of sushi - a dish of rice and seafood with a vinegar dressing.
In any case, the basis of rolls and sushi is rice. Its taste and consistency differ from the product used in Russian or, for example, Uzbek cuisine. Rice goes well with any seafood: fish, seaweed, shrimp, caviar. Fresh cucumbers, sesame seeds, and fruits are often placed in rolls.
Any experiments can be carried out. But the main component of rolls and sushi is still rice. To truly enjoy your food, it is important to know how to cook rice for rolls and sushi. Based on it, you can complement traditional recipes to your taste, experiment with filling, each time getting a new taste.
How to cook rice for rolls and sushi - general cooking principles
Every housewife can prepare Japanese dishes at home. Today, the cuisine of the island state is so popular that in any supermarket there is a counter with all the necessary products: Japanese rice, pressed noria seaweed, rice and soy vinegar, pickled ginger.
Before you cook sushi rice, you need to decide on the type of grain. Incorrectly boiled rice for rolls or sushi falls apart as soon as the piece ends up in a bowl of soy sauce. This happens for two reasons:
1. the dish is made from inappropriate rice;
2. The rice itself is cooked incorrectly.
As for the “correct” rice, it is not necessary to buy a product labeled “Japanese” or “for sushi.” In fact, we are talking about ordinary short-grain rice, and you shouldn’t overpay for a “tip.”
Of course, you can buy real Japanese rice. But our Krasnodar one is quite suitable for an overseas dish. And all because it has the necessary qualities: it boils well and has high stickiness. It is important that the boiled rice grains are well glued together.
The story about fluffy rice is not for sushi. Therefore, you cannot use long-grain rice, including steamed rice. The healthy brown, brown, black (wild) product will not work either. For rolls and sushi, only white sticky grains are needed. Otherwise, the question of how to cook rice for rolls becomes meaningless.
They need to be properly prepared: rinse in several waters (at least seven times). The water should be very cold and clean. Drained from a grain of rice that is completely ready for cooking, it should remain completely transparent.
The principles for preparing rice cereal are as follows:
Boil it properly until fully cooked;
Separately prepare the filling (rice vinegar, salt and sugar are required);
Combine hot rice and vinegar sauce.
In principle, you can simply cook a grain of rice the way you are used to doing it, and then pour the dressing over it and mix thoroughly. Or pour the grain into a slow cooker and entrust the process to it. But to get the maximum restaurant effect, it’s worth learning how to cook rice for rolls and sushi. There are several ways, and mastering them is not at all difficult.
How to cook rice for rolls the traditional way
Ideal rice is soft, tender, but not overcooked grains. They easily take the desired shape, so rolls and sushi turn out delicious, keep their shape perfectly and are not much different from restaurant ones. How to cook sushi rice the traditional way?
Ingredients:
A glass of short-grain (or special Japanese) rice grain;
One and a half glasses of water;
Half a tablespoon of granulated sugar;
Half a teaspoon of salt;
50 ml real rice vinegar.
Cooking method:
Place the prepared grains of snow-white rice in a thick-walled pan.
Pour a measured portion of water over the rice. The proportion of one to one and a half is the ideal ratio of grain and water. Do not salt the water, do not add any spices.
Turn on high heat and wait for the water to boil. The lid must be open.
As soon as the first signs of boiling appear, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid as tightly as possible.
How to cook sushi rice? No more than ten to fifteen minutes. It is important that the moisture completely evaporates, but you should not overexpose the rice on the fire. Overcooked rice grains will ruin an excellent dish.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the dressing. To do this, pour vinegar into a saucepan or small saucepan (you need rice vinegar, not some other kind).
Pour granulated sugar and salt into it.
Place the dishes on low heat and wait until the grains are completely dissolved. It is important to stir the sauce so that the sugar dissolves faster and does not burn.
When the grains of sugar and salt disappear, the filling is ready.
Remove the boiled rice from the heat and leave covered for ten minutes.
Place the rice grains in a large wide bowl and pour over the hot vinegar dressing.
Gently mix the rice with the vinegar mixture using a wooden spatula.
When the rice has cooled to a warm state, start forming rolls or sushi.
How to cook sushi rice using the “hot” method
Tender, sticky rice can be prepared differently. In this case, the rice is poured into boiling water, and its quantity is increased. How to cook rice for rolls using a hot method?
Ingredients:
A glass of white round rice;
Two glasses of clean water;
Two tablespoons of vinegar;
A teaspoon of sugar;
A teaspoon of salt.
Cooking method:
Boil water in a saucepan of suitable volume (the amount of rice will approximately triple).
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
Pour the grains into the boiling water, reduce the heat to low.
Cover the pan tightly with a lid, cook the rice for 15-20 minutes until the water is completely absorbed into the grain.
Prepare the dressing as described in the first recipe.
Remove the finished rice from the heat, sprinkle with the filling and stir using wooden sticks or a wooden spoon.
How to cook sushi rice with nori seaweed
You can use a sheet of nori to add a special flavor to the rice. You will need a small piece of pressed sheet. Before cooking sushi rice, you just need to put it in water. It is important to remove it from the pan after the water boils. The proportions are indicated for a large number of rolls.
Ingredients:
Four hundred grams of rice;
Half a liter of water;
A small piece of pressed noria seaweed;
50 ml rice vinegar;
30 g granulated sugar;
10 g salt.
Cooking method:
Pour cold water over the rice.
Throw a piece of nori into the water and cover the pan with a lid.
Turn on maximum heat and wait for the water to boil.
Remove the seaweed and reduce the heat to low.
Cook the rice for exactly twelve minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave the rice covered for another fifteen minutes.
Prepare vinegar filling.
Combine it with rice and mix.
The maximum cooking time for rice after boiling water is twenty minutes. If possible, do not remove the cover. For the first time, of course, you can’t do without checking the grain for boiling water. Rice can be cooked in 15 or 20 minutes. Much depends on the characteristics of the stove and the type of rice. But over time, experience will come, which will allow the grain to be completely at rest under the lid.
Under no circumstances should you touch the rice with a spoon, stir or disturb it. Let us remember one of the commandments: complete peace!
Ready rice should be cooked immediately. You can’t leave it for another day or store it in the refrigerator. In just a few hours, the boiled grains will begin to rapidly lose moisture. The rice will become tough and completely unsuitable for making rolls and sushi.
The dressing and rice must be mixed while hot. The filling should not boil: it should be given a few minutes to cool. The amount of filling should not be too large. The goal is to give the rice a light aroma and a sharp, vinegary taste.
You can buy ready-made dressing for sushi rice in the store. It replaces homemade rice vinegar, sugar and salt.
Rolls and sushi should be prepared from cooled, fully cooked rice. The Japanese use a special fan to fan and cool boiled rice grains. If you want to feel like you are in the atmosphere of old Japan, you can work with a fan. However, this is not necessary.
Loading...