It may not be the most exciting part of sushi, but the rice, known as sushimeshi (鮨飯) in Japanese, is what makes sushi, sushi. It’s made by cooking Japanese short-grain rice, which is then seasoned with a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. It’s worth noting that in the US, uncooked Japanese-style rice is sometimes labeled “sushi rice.”
In Japan, where hundreds of varieties of fresh fish are available at local fish markets, the best sushi restaurants differentiate themselves based on their technique, not just the variety and quality of their fish. Sushi rice, in particular, separates the truly extraordinary restaurants from the merely good.
Excellent sushi rice teeters the line between tender and firm. Each grain of rice retains its original shape, and yet they magically stick together, without being gluey or gummy. The seasoning is a balancing act between sweet, sour and salt and the rice should be well seasoned, but not so much so that it detracts from the fish. Most importantly, each grain of sushi rice should sport a lustrous shine that would make a shampoo model jealous.
Sashimi (刺身) is the Japanese word for a dish made with sliced raw fish. Sushi takes many forms, and may or may not include raw fish, but the common thread is that sushi always includes sushi rice. Some examples of sushi include makisushi (rolls), nigirisushi, chirashizushi(sushi bowl), temakisushi (handrolls), and gunkan(battleship).
By some accounts, the word sushi is a contraction of the words su, which means “vinegar” and meshi, which means “rice.” One of sushi’s earliest iterations in Japan is what’s known as narezushi (馴れ寿司). Fish was salted and then buried in cooked rice and allowed to ferment. The ensuing lacto-fermentation would break down the rice, lowering the pH and preserving the fish. Eventually, someone figured out that adding vinegar to the mixture would shorten the fermentation time making the fish taste better.
The next step in the evolution of sushi happened near Osaka, where the fish was salted, vinegared, and pressed onto a bed of sushi rice using a wooden mold. The bar of sushi would then be cut into bite-size pieces. This style of sushi is known as oshizushi (押し寿司), or pressed sushi, and is still popular in the region, especially for bento since the vinegar helps preserve the fish.
The style of sushi we enjoy today wasn’t developed until the Edo Period. Edo, the former name of Tokyo, was situated next to a bay which was teaming with seafood. Around 200 years ago, an enterprising chef started topping small balls of sushi rice with the fresh fish from Edo bay without curing it first. Never before had the preparation of sushi been so easy or fast, and so nigiri sushi was brought into this world as an early form of fast-food, sold out of stalls near the bay. 
Not all rice is not created equally. Long-grain rice, such as Basmati or Jasmine tends to have a dry fluffy texture and the grains don’t stick together thanks to a high ratio of Amylose to Amylopectin. This also causes long-grain rice to get hard as it cools. Short grain rice, on the other hand, has a higher ratio of Amylopectin to Amylose. This not only makes the rice sticky, but it also helps keep the rice soft, even after cooling.
There are many different kinds of short-grain rice, but if you’re planning on making sushi, I recommend looking for Japanese short-grain rice. Even amongst Japanese rice, there are dozens of varieties. Each one with variations in texture, color, and shine that’s affected by where it was grown, what the weather was like that season, how it was milled, and even how fresh it is. A pound of recently harvested premium rice can fetch upwards of $20 in Japan. Unfortunately, we don’t have quite the selection of rice here in the US, but looking for rice labeled as “new crop” is a good start.
A lot of the Japanese-style rice sold in the US is a cultivar called Calrose, which is actually a medium-grain rice. While it can be used for sushi, it’s not ideal, as it has a lower Amylopectin content than short-grain rice.
Sushi rice is made with cooked Japanese short-grain rice, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt.
Sushi vinegar is the seasoning used to make sushi rice. It’s typically made with rice vinegar, sugar and salt, but it can also be purchased pre-blended in a bottle. That being said, making sushi vinegar is ridiculously easy, and I don’t recommend buying the bottled kind because they are loaded with additives.
Cooling the rice as the seasoning is folded in, is a part of the process of making sushi rice. That being said, it does not need to be cooled to room temperature, and some sushi chefs like to use luke-warm rice.
The first step in making sushi rice is to wash the rice thoroughly under cold water. This removes any remnants of bran and extra starch that’s still on the rice from the milling process. For the best texture, it’s essential to let the rice soak in cold water for at least 30 minutes before you start cooking it. This allows the rice to rehydrate, preventing textural problems that can occur when dry rice is suddenly boiled.
Once the rice has soaked, it’s cooked with a little less water than you would typically use for the quantity of rice. This keeps the rice from getting mushy when you mix it with the sushi vinegar. The rice then needs to be steamed to complete the cooking process.
Finally, the hot cooked rice is folded together with sushi vinegar while being rapidly cooled. You want to do this in a container with as much surface area as possible so the rice can be spread out and cooled with a fan. This helps evaporate the excess moisture, which not only gives the rice a glossy finish, it also keeps it from absorbing too much liquid and getting soggy. 
Sushi rice is delicious as is, or it can be used to make various kinds of sushi such as California Rolls, Hand Rolls, Chirashizushi, or Nigiri sushi. Sometimes I like to mix it with ground sesame seeds, or minced Japanese pickles to pack into a bento box lunch. You can also make donburi or rice bowls with it by topping the sushi rice with your favorite seafood and vegetables such as crab, tuna, and avocado. I also love Poke over sushi rice.
Ingredients
- 310 grams Japanese short-grain rice (2 cooker cups)
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Steps
- Put the rice in a sieve(with holes small enough so the rice doesn’t pass through) over a bowl and wash the rice with cold tap water.
- Use your hands to remove the excess starch off each grain of rice by using a gentle rubbing motion. If you scrub too hard you will break the rice, so don’t be too rough.
- When the water that runs off is mostly clear, drain the rice.
- If you’re using a rice cooker, add the rice to the bowl of the rice cooker and add cold water to just under the 2 cup line (you want the rice to be on the firm side as you’ll be adding the seasoned vinegar after the rice is cooked). If you don’t have a rice cooker, add the rice to a large heavy bottomed non-stick pot, then add 1 1/2 cups of cold water.
Ideally you want to let the rice sit in the water for at least 30 minutes before you start cooking it. This allows the grains of rice to soak up some water before cooking, which results in shinier rice with a better texture.
- If you are using a rice cooker, turn it on and let it do it’s thing. If you are doing this on the stove, turn the heat onto high and bring the rice to a boil (be careful not to let it boil over). Turn down the heat to low and cover with a lid. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and let the rice steam for 10 minutes.
- While you wait for the rice to cook, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. You can microwave it for a bit to help dissolve the sugar.
- After the rice has had a chance to steam, it should be firm, but the core should not be crunchy. It should be sticky, but each grain of rice should retain its own shape. If your rice was fresh, the surface of each grain should be glossy.
Dump the rice out into a very large bowl, the key is that you want a container with a lot of surface area so you can spread the rice out to cool it rapidly. Gently flatten out the rice and then pour the vinegar mixture evenly over the hot rice.
Use a shamoji, spatula or a flat wooden spoon to gently combine the rice and vinegar using a side-to-side cutting motion followed by a folding motion. You want to separate each grain of rice, so the vinegar penetrates every surface, but you don’t want to break the grains of rice or mash them together.
While you mix the rice, hold a fan or piece of cardboard, or a clean hairdryer set to cool and blow air on the rice. This cools the sushi rice and helps the excess liquid evaporate quickly, which gives your rice a nice shine and prevents it from getting mushy. It’s a bit tricky mixing and fanning at the same time, so a second set of hands can be helpful here.
The sushi rice is done when the surface is no longer wet and slippery, the rice is fluffy, and each grain is very shiny. It will still be a little warm, but it should not be hot.
Mound up the rice, and cover with a damp towel until you're ready to use it.
Recipe Video
Notes:
Love that you specified rice cooker cups! 🙂 my biggest pet peeve is rice cooker or Asian rice recipes that don’t specify, and i am always wondering whether to you regular cups or rice cooker cups.
Love that you specified rice cooker cups! 🙂 my biggest pet peeve is rice cooker or Asian rice recipes that don’t specify, and i am always wondering whether to you regular cups or rice cooker cups.
Rice cooker measures are 3/4 of a standard (8oz) cup…in other words, 6oz liquid measure.
Typo spotted! Step number 9 in the recipe: “you’re rice is fresh”.
I’m not pointing it out maliciously. Figured you’d like to know, considering there’s a certain quality to the writing on the site I’ve come to expect (in a good way).
Your site is great.
🙂
There also may or may not be another apostrophe hiccup in the same area (step number 9).
Sorry!
Would I use this same technique for rice for Onigiri(sp) ? Thanks! Love this blog!
Rice for onigiri is not seasoned. You can follow the wash step and use the same proportion of water to rice, add a pinch of salt, then use the same cooking instructions, but you do not add the vinegar mixture and mix it like with sushi rice.
hey, i live in malaysia and i tried making sushi rice before but i can’t find the rice vinegar. is there anything else that can replace the rice vinegar? thanks 🙂
I use a cup of white vinegar, cup of sugar, two of salt and simmer with shaved ginger. Once it cooks and thickens a bit, I remove the ginger for serving. Very yummy
I’m not very familiar with what kinds of ingredients you can get in Malaysia, so I can’t really suggest a substitute. That said, I’m a little surprised you can’t find rice vinegar there as it’s used widely in Asian cooking. If you have a market that sells Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Korean ingredients they should have it as it’s used in all those cuisines. In the US it goes by a couple names including: white rice vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or simply rice vinegar.
Sushi rice is short grain rice. Shorter grain rice is starchier than long grain, and you need the starch to make the rice stick together in the sushi roll. Jasmine or Basmati would be long grain and would not have enough starch.
Is it ok using cane vinegar instead of rice vinegar? Than for sharing this recipe. I always wonder why the rice in Japan is shinier. I know the technique now.
hi marc, i just want to ask if i can use ordinary vinegar, cane vinegar? thanks 🙂
It’s not going to have the same taste, but if you’re okay with that I don’t see why you couldn’t use a different vinegar. Also, some vinegars are more acidic than others, so you may need to adjust the amount of vinegar based on the acidity. Unfortunately I’m not familiar with cane vinegar so can’t really give you any guidance there.
I am trying your recipe now but i just realised that i accidentally bought sushi vinegar (with the sugar and salt already added) Could you suggest a total amount of liquid that i should be adding to my rice as i’m not sure how much the sugar in your recipe condenses down to?
What is the best ingredient used in making sushi?
I’m not sure I understand your question, are you asking about the rice? vinegar?
Rice vinegar can be duplicated by taking white vinegar, salt and sugar and cooking them together in a pan over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
The portions should look like:
half cup of white vinegar
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
Add more salt, sugar or vinegar until it tastes “right”. You need something acidic or the rice will fall flat.
I used to prepare the vinegar this way, and my family liked it sweeter, so I would add more sugar to the mix. Everyone enjoyed the rice thoroughly.
Actually, rice vinegar does not include salt or sugar. I think you might be confusing it with sushi rice vinegar(sometimes known as seasoned rice vinegar), which is what this recipe is for.
Hey, I’m in Malaysia too. Quick question: are you living somewhere out in the woods? (I very much doubt it, else you shouldn’t be on the internet.) Anyway even if you’re living where there is no sign of human life, see if you can find your way to a “kedai runcit” (Malay for grocery shop) or “chap hui tiam” (in Hokkien), and ask for “bee chor” (in case the old shopkeep doesn’t speak English). It should cost only RM2.80 for a bottle the size of a large Tiger Beer. The brand I use is Narcissus, came all the way from… Read more »
California Rolls may be a bit tricky but I took away a great deal of information from your post that gives me the confidence to try making them now. Thanks so much, I’ll let you know how I do!
There’s rice vinegar in Malaysia too.. Im from Brunei and rice vinegar is not rare. I use it often. I believe thay are sold in most local markets. Just search for it.
Thank you Marc .
Tried a couple of times but came out a little lumpy and soft. Will need to keep an eye out on the amount of water. Also I used 3 heaped teaspoons of sugar instead of tablespoons.
The lower amount of sugar you used probably had an impact, the shine on the rice needs a higher sugar content. Also, it’s important that the water is measured precisely. Lastly it’s possible that the type and age of the rice your using will require some adjustments to the amount if water. The newer rice is, the higher the water content.— Sent from Mailbox for iPad
Thanks Marc. Will continue testing and experimenting 🙂
Could you give an estimated US cup measuremnet for the rice? I have no way of measuring by weight and im going to try to make California rolls for the first time for Valentines and i really don’t want to mess this up.. Thank you to anyone who can help
Hello Marc… I wold love to use your recipe for sushi rice using brown rice…is it possible? What adjustments would I need to make? Thank you
Hi Kayla, a rice cooker cup is 180ml, which is 0.760816 US Cups. Or roughly 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon.
Hi Marc,
I am planning on halving all ingredients that this recipe states as I only need a small quantity. Would I need to reduce the cooking time of the rice as I am using a saucepan?
Thanks,
From Emily.
Hi Emily, I’m not sure about what will happen in a sauce pan, but rice cookers don’t handle making 1 cup of rice very well. The rice ends up more crumbly than sticky. As for cooking times, since you have less water, it will take less time to bring to a boil, but the 15 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes of steaming remain the same.
hi marc bye marc
from sahqura elias
Marc, thanks so much for this recipe – its perfect xx
In the sushi restaurant I worked at we never added salt or sugar to the vinegar. It was already a perfect sweet and tangy flavor. Why does the recipe require those two ingredients?
Hi Breanna, the sushi restaurant you worked at was probably using premixed “sushi seasoning” meant for making sushi rice. If you read the ingredients these usually include corn syrup, salt and MSG in addition to the rice vinegar, which is why I prefer to make my own sushi seasoning. —
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Yes! You’re so right. I was saddened to read that High Fructose Corn Syrup was of of the top two ingredients. Anyways, I tried your recipe and I must say the taste is so much better without all those unnatural ingredients. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
hey since 2 x 180 ml rice cooker cups is 1 1/2 American cups (plus 2 tablespoons if you really want to get picky), same as the water required, why not just say so? Pretty simple to use the same amount of water and rice.
Hi guest, while what you’ve said is accurate, I’ve started listing all non-liquids as a weight rather than volume because volumetric measurements are not precise for non-liquids. You can read more on this here: http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/five-reasons-to-use-a-kitchen-scale/
Don’t try to do it in rice cooker ot other – it will be not so beautiful. If u wanna to get and tasty and good
looking rice, use multicooker like me (Redmond 4502) – it can do it faster is
much better, also it do it n the time I come to home after work. Perfect sushi!
Hey Marc! Great guide, easy yet it makes the quality sushi rice one wants. Cudos!
One question though, could I substitute the grain sugar for some other kind of sweetener? I’m thinking of using ginger syrup, something I use for many dishes (sweet/sour tomato soup, coleslaw salad, etc.). You get the same sweetness, but also that very slight ginger taste. Would this work for sushi, or would it ruin the intended taste?
Greetz,
Jan
Hi Rasslin, while adding ginger to the sushi rice isn’t very traditional I think it could taste quite good. I say go for it!
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Hi Marc … can I use light soya sauce instead of salt
Hi Islam, if you’re asking if using soy sauce in sushi rice is traditional then no it’s not. If you’re asking for my permission to try it then sure go for it. One thing to keep in mind is that soy sauce is not as salty as salt, so you’ll probably need to add more to the mixture, which may cause problems with the total amount of liquid.
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Would doubling the recipe be ok?
Hi Jenell, doubling is fine, but you’ll want to use a bowl that’s big enough that you can spread the rice into a fairly thin layer on. You want a lot of the liquid from the vinegar mixture to evaporate rather than soak into the rice. That’s why it’s important to use a bowl with as much surface area as possible.
Can you use thai sticky rice instead
You could, but the texture will not be right. Thai sticky rice is closer to Japanese mochi rice than sushi rice. Sushi rice is stickier than most long-grain rices but doesn’t have the chewy glutinous texture of a sticky rice.
Can the rice be made a day ahead, refrigerated, then allowed to come to room temperature before using?
Hi FairSkiesSailing, you could certainly do that, but the texture of the rice will not be good once it’s been refrigerated (even after coming up to room temperature).
Can I use sticky rice?
Hi Marc, this blog is awesome, I got almost all of my sushi knowledge from here ! I’ve been making a lot of sushi rice lately and getting tired of having to make the rice and wait for it to cool each time, I started making bigger batches now in order to use again the day after. I’ve read a couple alarming things about storing rice, and I wondered what’s your take on that. Do you store cooked sushi rice ? What’s the best way to do so ? I kept it in a deep plate covered in plastic film… Read more »
Hi Jason, I can’t really recommend storing sushi rice at room temperature for more than a few hours for food safety reasons. That said, in theory the pH and salt content of the rice should in theory preserve it for longer than plain rice. Putting it in the fridge will ruin the texture, but reheating it in the microwave will kind of of fix it.