How To Make Sushi Rice

Step 1: Rinse rice

Place the rice in a mesh strainer and rinse it under cold running water. Pick out any debris you might find in the rice, such as weird little pebbles or odd-looking grains of rice.

Step 2: Soak rice

Place the rinsed rice in your 2-quart pot and fill the pot with water until it's about one inch above the rice. Let this soak for 30 minutes.

Step 3: Rinse rice again

Place the soaked rice back in the strainer and rinse it again under cold running water until the water runs clear.

Step 4: Boil rice

Place the rinsed, drained rice back in the saucepan and add 2 1/4 cups of cold water. Cover the pot, place it over high heat, and bring it to a boil.

Step 5: Turn down heat

Once at a boil—you'll see steam and bubbles escaping from under the lid—turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

Step 6: Let rice simmer

Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes. Set a timer and don't lift the lid to check on the rice until it goes off.

Tip: If there's still water in the pot after 20 minutes, put the lid back on and let the rice cook a few more minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Step 7: Boil mixture

While the rice is cooking, place the rice vinegar, salt, and sugar in the smaller, 1-quart pot and bring it to a boil on medium high heat, stirring regularly until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add the konbu to the vinegar mixture and turn off the heat. Set the pot aside to cool.

Step 8: Let rice sit

Once the rice has absorbed all the water, turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes with the lid still on.

Step 9: Spread out rice

Dump the rice into a large non-metal bowl and spread it out with a wooden spoon so it will cool down faster.

Tip: Don't scrape the bottom of the pot—any dried, crusty bits of rice will add a funny flavor and texture to your sushi.

Step 10: Pour mixture

Remove the konbu from the cooled vinegar and slowly pour the mixture over a spoon into the cooked rice, gently stirring and tossing to combine and cool it.That's it; you've just saved yourself years of practice!

How to make sushi rice - the full recipe.

Preparing the sushi rice might look complicated and pedantic at first, but as you go along with it you might notice that it's just like making ordinary rice, only with rice vinegar added to it, and a bit of Japanese methodology.
I've de-complicated the requirements into five simple steps:

1.Choosing right
Wouldn't you say that the Japanese have already thought of everything? Well, they did. They even made a special rice for sushi, they call it "shari", some folks simply call it "sushi rice". And they even took the time and effort to make it round, so that you can find it easily in the supermarket.

2.Measuring and preparing the rice
First you got to clear the rice from all sorts of impurities just lying there waiting for you to cook them in your sushi rice. But you wouldn't do that, right? Right. Wash the rice (1 cup = 3 rolls) with running water for 1-2 minutes until there is no more starch coming out of it. After you are done washing, take the rice and place it gently in a pot, add a little bit more water than rice ( the ratio is about 1.15:1 in favor of the water). Don't put too much water, or you'll get dough instead of rice.

3.Cooking the rice
The rice should be cooked on high heat at first, stir every minute or two, until the water boils. Then, lower the heat to minimum and cover the pot. Stop stirring, the rice will handle itself from now. Why? That is just the Japanese way...
After 6-8 min, check the water level. If there is no more water, only bigger grains of rice in the pot, that means the rice is ready. If not, check back every minute, making sure not to burn the rice at the bottom.

4.Taking out the rice
You think I'm kidding right? Well I'm not. There are a few important issues to keep in mind while taking the rice out of the pot. First, use only a wooden spoon to handle the cooked rice. A metal spoon will damage it severely.

Second, don't scrape the rice out from the bottom of the pot. If it comes out easily, good, if not - leave it be. The rice at the bottom is dry and burned, it won't taste so good.

5.Seasoning the rice
In order for the rice to taste like sushi rice should (and not like an ordinary rice), you need to add rice vinegar to it right after you take it out of the pot.

How is this done?
1.For 3 cups of rice, use ½ cup of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt.
2.Mix together in small pot, on medium heat until all solids are mixed in.
3.Pour mixture on rice and stir well.
4.Let rice cool down for a few minutes until it is within the room temperature.