Perfect Sushi Rice (Like A Pro)

Put Rice Vinegar (75 mL), Granulated Sugar (25 g), and Salt (12 g) in a small bowl and mix well with a whisk.

Add Water (450 g) to the Sushi Rice (450 g). After the first wash, dump the water immediately as they are dirty.

From the second wash, add water from the tap and lightly rub the rice with both hands a few times and drain the water. Repeat this 3-4 times.

Drain the rice in a colander for about 5-10 minutes to remove the excess water, otherwise, the rice will get too soft.

If you use an electric pressure cooker (such as an Instant pot), put the washed rice and 540 g of water (filtered or soft water if possible) into a cooking pot and let the rice rest in the water for 20 minutes.

In case of using an electric cooker such as an Instant pot, push a “pressure cook” button, select “high pressure”, and set the cooking time to 2 minutes. Then, the cooker should start cooking. Once the electric cooker has finished cooking, leave it for about 15 minutes to release the pressure naturally.

Now the rice is perfectly cooked, let’s move to mix with sushi vinegar! Pour water into the handai (a wooden rice tub) about 1 cm high from the bottom for 2-3 minutes. And let a shamoji (a wooden rice scoop) submerge together. If you don’t have a handai, you can use any flat-bottomed cookware.

Drain the water from the handai and shamoji (rice scoop), and wipe off the water. Place the hot rice in the center of the rice tub or cookware. If the rice has burned/colored part, remove it.

Slowly pour the vinegar mixture over the hot rice.

Hold the rice scoop like this. Start mixing evenly as if cutting the rice. Turn the rice tub counterclockwise while mixing.

Fold the rice from the bottom to the top as the vinegar accumulates at the bottom.

If the rice is still hot, let it cool down for a few minutes until it becomes body temperature (lukewarm).

Once it’s cooled to the right temperature, place it in a pot or a rice cooker (make sure it’s turned off!) and cover with a clean, wrung-out cooking towel until you use it for sushi. And there you have it, sushi rice!