The best Sushi Rice recipe is slightly sticky, tender, and never mushy! It's the perfect base for restaurant worthy sushi rolls, poke bowls, sushi burritos, and more! We've included step-by-step instructions and tips for the stovetop, Instant Pot, or rice cooker.
Wash rice*. Add rice to a fine mesh strainer and run under water in a circular motion, to wash the rice. Wash it, massaging it gently with your hands, until the water runs clear, this will take a few minutes. (I like to place a bowl in my sink, to catch the water and be able to see if the water coming down is murky or clear). It’s very important to wash the rice well.
Drain well, gently shaking off any excess water.
Cook Rice:
Stovetop: Add water and rice to saucepan. Close the lid and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once water is boiling, reduce heat (keep covered) and cook for 13 minutes. Remove from heat and rest for 10 minutes.
Instant Pot: Add water and rice to Instant Pot. Cook at high pressure for 5 minutes, with a 10 minute natural release.
Rice Cooker: Add water and rice and cook on white rice setting.
Make Sushi Vinegar: Meanwhile, make the rice vinegar mixture. Stir sugar, salt, and rice vinegar together. Heat the mixture for 20-30 seconds in the microwave, and then stir it, to make sure the sugar is dissolved.
Fluff/Slice Rice: Use a flat plastic paddle (rice cookers often come with these), or silicone spatula, to “slice” the rice in the pot, at a 45 degree angle to fluff it.
Wet a wooden sushi rice bowl, or a large plastic shallow bowl or container with water (to help keep the rice from sticking). (Pour off any excess water. in bowl.) Add the rice and continue to “slice” the rice at a 45 degree angle to fluff it and separate the chunks of rice.
Add vinegar. Fan and Fluff/Slice. While the rice is hot, drizzle the vinegar mixture over the rice, and continue to slice it at a 45 degree angle, while fanning it at the same time with a fan or use a paper plate. This helps to cool the rice so the rice will shine and doesn't get mushy. Stop fanning once all of the vinegar mixture is incorporated. Allow the rice to cool uncovered.
Cool to room temperature: It’s essential to allow the rice to cool to room temperature before making sushi! If the rice touches the Nori when it’s warm, the Nori will wrinkle and shrink.
Once at room temp, cover rice with a damp towel to keep it from drying out, while you prepare sushi.
Notes
Yield: This makes enough rice for about 6 large (full nori sheet), or 10 small sushi rolls (half of a nori sheet). Rice: Japanese short grain rice for sushi is a must! Please do not use long grain or instant rice. This is the rice that Maria uses (I found it easily at my local Asian market), but this sushi rice also gets good reviews on Amazon.Sugar: Maria uses organic cane sugar. Rice Vinegar: You may notice “sushi vinegar” at the store, which already has salt and sugar added, but Maria prefers the taste of regular rice vinegar with sugar and salt mixed in. Rice bowl for sushi: If you're serious about sushi making it's worth it to buy a wooden sushi bowl , but a large shallow plastic bowl or container will work. Make sure to wet it before using, so the rice doesn’t stick.Pro Tips:
Wash rice! Traditional sushi rice instructs you to soak the rice in water for 20-30 minutes before cooking. Maria skips this step as she has found it unnecessary, as long as the rice is properly rinsed very well until the water runs clear. Rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer, over a bowl, so you can see if the water coming through is murky or clear.
Make sure all water is absorbed from cooked rice before removing rice from pot. Wet or soggy rice will not work!
Add the vinegar mixture when the rice is HOT!
Slice the rice with a rice paddle at a 45 degree angle to fluff it, so it doesn’t get mushy and fan the rice (a paper plate would work!) to help it shine and cool.
For authentic sushi rice, add Kombu. Traditional sushi rice is cooked with kelp called kombu, because it gives it umami flavor. It has a distinctive smell and taste that not everyone loves.