Are you craving sushi rice? Let’s cook sushi rice at home. But if you wonder about making sushi rice, you are at the right place. Let’s dig in.

Sushi rice is a traditional Japanese rice consumed worldwide, mainly in Japan. There are various ways to consume and make delicious sushi rice.

Making sushi rice is not rocket science. Even amateur cooks can cook sushi rice; if you are a die-hard fan of it, you can quickly cook the preparation. Making it mainly consists of patience, or we can say making sushi is a test of patience.

1. History of Sushi Rice

Historians can track the origin of sushi rice as it is now about the 2nd century, but their written history was not founded/spotted by them till the 10th century.

It is exciting that the sushi rice we eat today as the food was not prepared as food; instead, it was used to preserve raw fish, also famously known as “NAREZUSHI.

Now, you may ask for rice to preserve raw fish. They used fermented rice to preserve the fish pickle, which could be stored for up to one year. However, the fermented rice was later thrown away and was not a part of the food. Later in the 14th century, people started eating fermented rice and fish.

Unlike everything contemporary, food also changed back in those days in Japan. People used to eat raw fish until pollution made the consumption health hazardous. Things changed in consumption after the food revolution, which lasted for many years.

2. Why is it called sushi rice?

Sushi is called sushi because, as the name sushi itself suggests, the sour taste, the literal meaning of sushi is sour, and the whole sushi dish has a sour flavor along with some savory flavor.

3. What is sushi rice?

Sushi rice has a solid ethnic bond with the Japanese culture, and the story of sushi also started in the rice fields.

The modern inventor of sushi rice is Hanaya Yohei, who invented the nigirizushi, the type of sushi we consume today, which is seafood pressed in vinegar-flavored rice and served with a few side dishes.

Sushi rice is plain, short-grain white rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar, and salt.

3.1 How long does it take to prepare sushi rice?

There are various ways to cook sushi rice, but it takes approximately 30 minutes to cook the rice. Sushi rice can be cooked in various ways. We will explain here one by one.

3.2 Ingredients

To prepare the sushi rice, make sure you have all the ingredients; here is a list of the following ingredients to prepare sushi rice.

To cook sushi rice, you need rice; cold-cooked rice is not preferred. Instead, choose uncooked rice here. Also, remember that long-grain rice like Jasmine rice or any other rice is not preferred as they tend to fall apart and will not make any sushi rice.

Therefore, the rice should be short-grain rice, which is also known as sticky rice/Japanese rice. If you do not have any short-grain Japanese rice, we can also opt for any rice with a higher starch content and short-grained.

You can take any vinegar form for the healthier option and also for better taste enhancement. You can also choose apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, also known as rice vinegar.

Rice vinegar also has two varieties: plain rice wine vinegar and seasoned vinegar. Choose as per your taste. However, plain rice wine vinegar is recommended. Next, we need sugar and salt.

Now let us point out once again what we need for how to make sushi rice:-

• short-grain rice/sticky rice
• vinegar solution
• sugar and salt (table salt) [ 1/4 th cup of sugar and salt one tablespoon.
• Rice cooker
• rice paddle
• instant pot also works in place of the rice cooker.

Let’s start making our favorite sushi rice recipe for your favorite homemade sushi night or sushi day.

4. Two ways to make easy sushi rice for beginners

4.1. How to make sushi rice the easy way

1. First, take a small saucepan and two medium cups of uncooked rice. It must be the sushi rice for one person, in case you are trying it alone. But if you enjoy it with a bunch of your favorite people, take a large bowl and 6-7 cups of sushi rice.
2. Now, rinse the rice and let it soak in the small saucepan for about 30 minutes overnight, based on your choice; as I said earlier, making good sushi rice is all about patience.
3. Now, lighten up the woven gas and keep it on medium heat. Now take a rice cooker, add the rinsed sushi rice to the rice cooker bowl, and add water. The water must be about 3/4 of the sushi rice (because we want it to absorb the water from the rice cooker completely), bringing it to a good boil.
4. Remember to cook the sushi rice until you lose patience. To check the rice is cooked evenly, you can also use the rice paddle.
5. Once the rice grains are cooked, remove the sushi rice from the heat to get steamed evenly. Do not remove the lead/cover of the pan, and start preparing the sushi vinegar mixture, which is our next step in preparing sushi rice.
6. You need rice vinegar, sugar, and salt to prepare the sushi vinegar. All you can do to prepare the vinegar mixture is to combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl (remember the bowl must be a non-metallic bowl to prevent any reaction of the rice vinegar with the mixing bowl).
7. Mix it until the whole is dissolved, or to mix it even faster, we can put it into the gas woven into medium-high heat until it is dissolved.
8. Now remove the lead from the rice cooker bowl of sushi rice and add the vinegar mixture to the sushi rice. With the help of a rice paddle/wooden spoon, gently fold all the rice with the vinegar mixture till it is evenly mixed; let the rice cool, and that is it; your sushi rice is ready.
9. Now, you can enjoy sushi rice as sushi rolls or add a side dish cuisine.

NOTE: Remember, if your sushi vinegar, sugar, and salt are not balanced, the taste will be imbalanced.

4.2. How to make sushi rice in the instant pot?

There are many ways to cook sushi rice. One such way is to use an instant pot/pressure cooker. While cooking in an instant pot, remember you won’t be able to use a rice paddle as much as possible in other methods to check the cooked rice, so you have to be very clever with measurements and time.

So, let’s start making sushi rice in an instant pot.

1. Take short-grain rice and rinse the rice. You can also soak the rinsed sushi rice for fast cooking, but cooking the sushi rice in an instant pot is unnecessary.
2. Now take 2 cups of rinsed rice, add water in the rice cooker bowl up to the mentioned line, and put it in the instant pot; set the settings as white rice setting, keep the pressure low, and let it cook automatically. Once cooked, take the cooked rice out of the instant pot immediately and let the rice cool.
3. Now, moving on to the next step, take a wooden bowl to make the vinegar solution; now take vinegar, sugar, and salt (you can also add oil if you want. Any vegetable oil will work fine, but I would suggest using sesame oil as it has extensive use in the Japanese dish cuisine) and whisk until the sugar crystals got dissolved completely.
4. Also, note that while taking the vinegar of your choice, add less sugar if you use readymade sushi vinegar because vinegar usually has a sour flavor. Still, the sushi vinegar is already slightly sweet. So, more sugar will make the sushi rice too sweet and make the dish a disaster.
5. Moving forward, you add the cooked rice into the wooden bowl and gently fold it until it is evenly mixed with the seasoned sushi vinegar, and you have the authentic sushi rice ready.
6. Now you can eat sushi rice, and your favorite side dish or rice balls called Onigiri in Japanese.

NOTE: Let the rice cool before mixing sushi rice with a paddle/wooden spoon. Though sushi rice is sticky rice but not mushy rice, mixing it hot can shorten the short-grain rice, releasing more starch and making it more sticky like an instant adhesive.

5. Now, let’s make a bowl of easy sushi rice

Let’s learn how to make sushi rice most straightforwardly; its enormous variety is one good thing about sushi. You can make a sushi-filling combination of your own.

So this sushi rice recipe was created with a hint of the Indian version and is my new favorite recipe. It is an excellent homemade sushi for vegans. This recipe calls for a lot of vegetables. Still, you can also add meat or fish of your choice.

Depending on the cook, this recipe can take 45 minutes to an hour.

5.1 Ingredients

• short-grain rice
• rice vinegar/apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt
• sugar
• sesame oil
• Sesame seed
• nori/seaweed
• carrot
• cucumber
• mushroom
• avocado
• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• and any vegetables of your choice
• tofu
• fish-like Salmon/ tuna ( For non-vegetarians )
• ground beef/ minced pork ( For non-vegetarians )
• pickled Jalapeno
• hot sauce (you can add this of your choice )
• soy sauce
• scallions/green onions
• fish sauce
• Chilli flakes
• turmeric
• chili powder
• add sour cream
• garlic powder/paste (for non-veg)
• ginger powder/paste (for non-veg)
• bamboo mat/ parchment paper
• now, let us dive into the best sushi rice recipe

5.2 Preparation

First, take a small saucepan and rinse the sushi rice. You can also use a rice cooker or an instant pot if you want to, but I prefer a small saucepan to check the rice.

1. For one person, two standard cups of rice are delicate, and you can always add more depending on the portion consumption of the person. If you are making for more people, you can add the two standard cups X the number of people [ 2 cups X the number of persons].
2. Place the saucepan on the stovetop on medium heat and add water and the uncooked rice; cook the rice for 20 minutes.
3. You can prepare the rest of the vegetables or fillings till the rice is prepared.
4. By using a wooden spoon, check whether the rice has thoroughly boiled. If it needs water, you can add a little bit of water. Please Do not overdo it because we want the rice to absorb the water completely.
5. If the rice is not cooked correctly, then cook the rice a bit more till you lose patience.
6. Once cooked, let it sit aside for 10-12 more minutes to simmer with the lid on. It will cool down while simmering away from the stovetop until we prepare our perfect sushi rice.

5.3 To make the rice seasoning

1. To make the seasoning, take a nonmetallic mixing bowl and avoid the seasoned rice vinegar; instead, take plain rice vinegar.
2. Now add three tablespoons of rice vinegar/ apple cider vinegar, add one tablespoon of sesame oil ( the sesame oil is entirely optional; I add it because of personal preference), about one tablespoon if you are a solo eater, add one tablespoon of salt ( depending upon your taste) and add two tablespoons packed sugar.
3. Whisk until the granulated sugar mixes with the season and your homemade sushi vinegar is there. You can always multiply the said portion by the number of people consuming it.
4. Three tablespoons of vinegar + +1 tablespoon sesame oil + +1 tablespoon salt + 2 tablespoons full-sugar X [ The number of eaters].

One more way to create sushi vinegar for this recipe is,

1. Take a nonmetallic mixing bowl to add the store-bought sushi vinegar. Remember, this is sweet as compared to other kinds of vinegar. This time, cut the sugar/use less sugar. We will prepare one standard serving and always multiply the food materials per the number of consumers.
2. Therefore, take the bowl, add three tablespoons of store-bought sushi vinegar, add one tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of sugar, and one tablespoon of sesame oil ( the sesame oil is entirely optional; I add it because of personal preference), whisk until the seasoning altogether blends well with zero granulated sugar or salt, here you have your ultimate sushi vinegar ready.

Prepare the seasoning more in the same suggested way and amount for further making a dip.

Now, mix the sushi vinegar with the rice well so that every grain particle mixes evenly and the perfect sushi rice is ready.

5.4 How to make sushi rice filling the vegan way

1. Wash the vegetables and let them dry
2. Then you can either shred or Julian the carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and other vegetables of your choice separately, one by one.
3. Now, the next step of making sushi rice is to peel off the avocados and thinly slice them vertically, as it will help roll the sushi roll easily.
4. Cut it into thinly rectangular shapes or dice the tofu and the mushrooms and season it with salt, turmeric chili powder, and sour cream. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
5. You can also stir fry the shredded vegetables; if you prefer raw, do not work hard for it.
6. Take a frying pan and keep it on the stovetop on medium heat. The pan is hot; add the sesame oil, let it there for five minutes, add the tofu and mushrooms, and stir fry until golden – golden-brown, depending on your choice.

5.5 How to make sushi rice filling for non-vegetarian sushi

1. Wash the vegetables nicely and then dry them.
2. If you are using tuna or salmon, you can serve it fresh/ or stir fry it, depending upon your choice.
3. For those who generally prefer meat over fish, use sour cream and add salt, garlic powder/paste, ginger powder/paste, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix it well and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
4. Slice up the avocados vertically. Thinly, you can shred or Jullian the carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and other vegetables of your choice separately.
5. Now, cook the meat you prefer until all the flavor gets incorporated and smells delicious.

5.5.1 Now for the dipping

You can serve the soy sauce on a sauce plate solo and make another dip of your choice. This dish should be tried with both.

To make the dip,

1. Take a mixing bowl and add one tablespoon of chili flakes.
2. Two small, thinly sliced scallions/green onions.
3. One tablespoon of soy sauce
4. One tablespoon of sesame oil
5. Hot sauce as per your taste
6. 1/2 tablespoon of previously seasoned rice vinegar made for the rice incorporate everything well.

And here, you have your ultimate dip for the sushi rolls.

5.5.2 Now for the sushi rolls

1. Place the bamboo mat/or parchment paper that works fine for a homemade setup on a clean and even surfaced counter.
2. Now, it is time to assemble the rice with the remaining fillings.
3. Place the nori sheet/seaweed on top of the bamboo mat/ parchment paper, then place sushi rice on top of it and spread it evenly to the length of the nori sheet.
4. Now, start assembling all the vegetables layer by layer. Do not overdo it or make a heap, as it will be difficult to roll the rice. First, put the carrot over the rice and then the cucumber.
5. Now add bell papers, tomatoes, avocadoes, and then the masterpiece of the dish, the stir-fried tofu and mushrooms/meat.
6. Remember to assemble it in a line, and each ingredient should be on top of the other.
7. Now gently roll the rice with the help of the bamboo mat, and keep pressing it in between so it assembles well. Remember, the bamboo mat is for rolling from outside. Do not roll the whole mat/sheet in between; let’s jump into the next step of how to make sushi rice.
8. You will be left with a nori-wrapped cylinder with rice and vegetables stuffed inside; take a sharp knife and gently cut the sushi rolls into small pieces. Now season the sushi rolls with sesame seeds; thus, you have one of the best sushi rice.
9. Grab your plate and serve it with soy sauce and dipping sauce. Remember to put both the dips into different plates/sauce bowls/dipping bowls.

Now enjoy the sushi rolls from your home without ordering or going out.

Did you know?

The starting price of sushi is between 15 USD and 20 USD; 2 sushi plates are sufficient for one adult. Until now, the most expensive sushi is priced around 2000 USD and has also made a Guinness record.

But the question is, how can sushi be that expensive? Well, it is not just any random sushi like we had mentioned. This recipe is on another level. Now you might ask, what does that sushi contain, gems or Jewels? You guessed it contains edible gems and jewels like diamonds, pearls, and gold.

But 2000 dollars for one sushi plate, do you think this is that much worthy? Let us know in the comment section.

Last Updated on March 18, 2024 by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology