Japanese cuisine is becoming increasingly popular in our country. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that many housewives feel the desire to please their loved ones with Japanese dishes. The very first in popularity - of course, rolls and sushi. When preparing these dishes, it is important to know that properly cooked rice is the key to the unique taste of sushi. Therefore, this entire article will be fully devoted to such a topic as cooking rice for sushi.
So, we can repeat - rice is the basis for all rolls and sushi. When prepared properly, this product must have a sticky consistency. This is necessary in order to make sushi convenient to sculpt, as well as roll up rolls. It is not so easy to cook a rice like this. In order to achieve such a result, you must first choose it correctly.
The easiest way to solve this problem is to go to a specialty store and buy the rice you need. If there is no such store or some other reason prevents this, then it is better to buy a round-grain one, since a long-grain one will not work for this purpose for the simple reason that it is not able to digest as it should.
Cooking rice for sushi, i.e. boiling it, should be done in a small amount of water. The main condition is to keep the lid closed when cooking, if you let off the steam, it’s not quite what you need. During the cooking process, absolutely no seasonings are added, not even salt, then, a little later, rice will be seasoned with a special sauce.
Before starting to cook rice for sushi, it must be washed well in running and cold water, until the water is clear. According to the Japanese, the taste of rice directly depends on how many times it has been washed, and therefore it is advised to do it at least seven times. After this procedure, rice should drain for half an hour, this is a minimum.
Preparation of rice for sushi is best done in unenameled dishes, it should be deep enough and have a thick bottom. It must be put in a pan, and then pour cold water. The amount of water is taken from the calculation: for 200 grams of rice, 250 milliliters of water. The pan in this situation should be filled with water no more than a third. For this reason, it is very important to choose a container of the appropriate size.
As for the cooking itself, it happens as follows. A container with a lid is placed on medium heat and its contents are brought to a boil. After that, the temperature is set to a minimum and rice is cooked for another 10 or 13 minutes, while boiling should be weak. At this time, with the correct layout, the water should be completely absorbed. In no case should you open the lid and mix rice. After that, the fire turns off and the rice should stand for about 15 minutes.
As already mentioned, in the cooking process, you do not need to add any seasonings. A special dressing is needed for rice, which, by the way, can be done while preparing rice for sushi. Its main components are rice vinegar, salt and sugar. Ideally, of course, you can use mirin or sake, but, as a rule, there are no such products, so a sauce prepared on your own is quite suitable.
The proportions of the components are: 50 milliliters of vinegar, 10 grams of salt and 30 grams of sugar. These indicators may be slightly different, it all depends on individual preferences. Most importantly, the dressing should not be too sour or sweet. All ingredients must be mixed in a small saucepan, then put it on the fire, stirring constantly, heating until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
After the preparation of the dressing is over, it is poured into rice, and the whole mass is mixed with chopping movements. In the end result, the rice should be completely saturated. The mass should be cooled and you can begin to prepare sushi.
That's all. How to cook rice for sushi? Very simple, and you will see it very quickly. A little training is enough, and sushi will turn out no worse than in a restaurant.