Rice Cooker

Sushi Rice

Main Dish

Making sushi rolls at home? When it comes to making perfect sushi rice, by following a couple of easy steps, your maki will be restaurant quality!

Servings 3-4
Preparation
Cooking

Ingredients

2 cups Japanese short grain rice
Water
2 tablespoon plain rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Rinse the rice under cold water and keep swishing the rice around until the water runs clear.
Transfer the rice to the rice cooker inner pot and add water to the 2 cup line for white rice.
Close the lid and choose the [Plain] function. Press start.
Meanwhile, mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved. Set aside.
When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl or sushi oke (wooden rice mixing bowl). If you are using a sushi oke, brush it with a little water to help prevent the rice grains from sticking to the wood.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the rice and, using a rice paddle, slice through the rice while gently folding it at the same time. Do this a few times until the mixture is evenly distributed. Don’t overdo it otherwise the rice will get mushy!
Use immediately or within an hour. To prevent the rice from drying, cover the bowl with a dishcloth.

MAKING SUSHI RICE LIKE A SUSHI CHEF

You’ll find sushi rice in a ton of different preparations. Whether you’re making chirashi, inarizushi or just a whole bunch of sushi rolls (maki) in your home kitchen, the rice matters as much as the fish and veggies.

Now when you hear the term sushi rice, you might just think that it’s any rice served with sushi. However, there are two important factors: the type of grain you use, and the seasoning.

WHAT IS SUSHI RICE?

These are the two factors that matter most when preparing sushi rice.

Short Grain Rice: You’ll want to use short grain Japanese rice (we like koshihikari rice). Cooked short grain rice has mildly sticky properties and a firm chew. This type of rice results in grains that stick together – super helpful when forming nigiri or maki rolls. And, prior to cooking, you’ll want to make sure to rinse the uncooked grains under cold water. This releases the excess starch from the rice grains. If you skip this important step, your sushi rice might come out gloppy.
The Rice Seasoning: You’ll season the cooked rice with a combination of rice vinegar, sugar and salt. It imparts a bright, nuanced flavor to the rice. That particular flavor profile plays so nicely with things like soy sauce and wasabi when you take a composed bite.

HOW TO MAKE SUSHI RICE IN A RICE COOKER

If you’re visual learners like us, this video may be all the help you need. And we’ve got detailed instructions in the directions tab above on this page.

As mentioned, rinse your uncooked rice grains under cold water until the water runs clear. Cook your short grain Japanese rice in your Tiger rice cooker.

Then transfer the cooked rice to a large mixing bowl or sushi oke. Mix in the vinegar, sugar and salt mixture and fold it into the rice until evenly distributed (but don’t overmix).