Sumeshi / sushi rice

With only a couple of extra steps, you can make sushi rice the way it should be.

Whole recipe:
With homemade sushizu:
(sushizu made with shiokoji salted rice malt): 1,168 calories; 19.0g protein; 3.0g fat; 259.0g carbohydrate; 257.0 g net carbs; 282mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.0 g fiber
(sushizu made with kosher salt) 1,180 calories; 19.0 g protein; 3.0 g fat; 253.0 g carbohydrate; 251.0 g net carbs; 779 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.0 g fiber

With store-bought sushizu:
1,138 calories; 18.4 g protein; 2.7 g fat; 242.5 g carbohydrate; 241.0 g net carbs; 1,583 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.5 g fiber


<Ingredients>

(Serves 4-5)

2 cups (180 cc cup) rice
2 tbsp sake
1 piece kombu kelp
Approx. 360 cc water (not in photo)

4 tbsp sushizu sushi vinegar


<Directions>
1.

Wash rice. Rinse until water is almost clear. Drain, and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2.

Add sake.

Add water up to slightly below the indicated level.

Put kombu kelp, and cook.

When done, gently turn.

3.

In the meantime, wet handai tub entirely, and wipe off extra water on surface.

4.

Mix sushi vinegar in rice.

Pour small amount of sushi vinegar in handai tub, put rice, and pour the rest of sushi vinegar.

With spatula, mix rice in a quick slicing motion. Break apart blocks of rice, if any; do not smash rice grains.

When rice surface is coated with sushi vinegar, fan while gently turning rice to get rid of excess moisture.
Rather than aiming to cool down rice, pay attention to removing extra liquid on handai surface. When done, sushi rice is glossy, not soggy, and still warm.

Cover with moistened (well wrung) towel until use.

<Notes>

• Rinsing until water becomes clear ensures a smooth rice surface at the end. This, however, takes away the nutritional properties of the rice. Is sushi really healthy? Compromising for the end results is acceptable once in a while.
• Adding sake and kombu, or at least one of them, improves the flavor of rice. This works with any rice, not limited to sushi rice.
• Leftover sushi rice can be frozen for another time.

(Last updated: August 16, 2015)