Sushi (alt.food.sushi) For talking sushi. (Sashimi, wasabi, miso soup, and other elements of the sushi experience are valid topics.) Sushi is a broad topic; discussions range from preparation to methods of eating to favorite kinds to good restaurants.

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Default I need cooking tips on how to make good sushi rice?

Hi,

Is it impossible to get the perfect sushi rice. No matter how many times i make sushi it never turns out like the japanese shop's rice. I know im not japanese but people who aren't can make good sushi rice so why cant i. Im great at cooking all other foods and have certificates in hospitality but just cannot cook sushi rice. If you have any tips it would be much appreciated.

Regards
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Default I need cooking tips on how to make good sushi rice?

wingmark > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is it impossible to get the perfect sushi rice. No matter how many times
> i make sushi it never turns out like the japanese shop's rice. I know im
> not japanese but people who aren't can make good sushi rice so why cant
> i. Im great at cooking all other foods and have certificates in
> hospitality but just cannot cook sushi rice. If you have any tips it
> would be much appreciated.


Get a copy of Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art". I got mine
from Amazon, but your local library might have it.

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ http://anymarine.com/
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Default I need cooking tips on how to make good sushi rice?

I am very picky about sushi rice. Yasuda-san used to spend a lot of
time explaining the intricacies of his Zen-like approach to making the
rice at his New York restaurant. I will never achieve that level of
product, but I can produce much better sushi rice than many of the
restaurants I have been to outside of NY, LA and Japan.

Start with the proper rice. Short grain sushi rice is available at
Asian markets and via mail order amongst other spots. Kokuho Rose is
a commonly available and perfectly acceptable product in the US. If
you really want top quality you can spend much more and get a Japanese
rice such as that sold by Yatane in Japan, but this is not as easily
found here in the US. You should find a good source for Japanese
products and experiment to achieve your personal taste goals.

Use a rice cooker - these dedicated machines (made by Zojirushi and
others) are available from Amazon and others here in the US. I have a
Zojirushi NS-CC10 (10 cup model) which works great. It comes with a
measuring cup (they use a 180 ml cup) and settings for various types
of rice including sushi rice. I think that the setting option is
important. Sushi rice is NOT the same as other rice that you might
cook in a generic rice cooker with no sushi setting. You add the rice
and then add water to the line inside the cooking bowl for the number
of cups you are making and close the lid. I tend to add an extra
little bit of water because I prefer softer rice. Turn the unit on
and a short while later it will announce that the rice is perfectly
cooked and ready.

You will also need sushi seasoning. My favorite of the moment is a
Mizkan sushi vinegar which comes in a bottle. It contains rice
vinegar, sugar, salt and kelp extract but no MSG. There are many
similar liquid sushi seasonings available. I wouldn't skimp on this.
If you are more adventurous than I am, you can make your own from rice
vinegar and sugar. There are also powder forms of the seasoning, but
I have not had as much success with these. You will need at least one
cup (180ml) per 6 cups of uncooked rice but some chefs use much more.
I have seen recipes suggesting that one should use as much volume of
sushi seasoning as the number of cups of uncooked rice being made. My
preference is for at least a 1-3 ratio of sushi seasoning to rice. I
like my rice tangy.

I also like to use a 4-8 inch piece of dried Kombu during the
cooking. This is a seaweed that can be purchased dried from many
Asian stores and even Whole Foods, I believe.

Since you will be using an acid, vinegar, it is highly recommended
that the containers and utensils that are used after the rice has been
cooked are not made of metal. Although you could use plastic, I have
purchased a traditional Japanese wooden mixing container and wooden
paddles for mixing the hot rice with sushi seasoning. Once done you
can keep it in that container or transfer it to a wooden, glass or
plastic container for holding prior to serving.


The process of preparing the rice is as follows:

Start a few hours before you plan to consume the rice. Sushi rice
doesn't stay in top form for an entire day and it will be damaged or
destroyed by refrigeration.

Measure out your rice using the proper measuring cup. Wash the rice.
I find it easiest to use a mesh colander with holes small enough to
keep the rice inside and a bowl that it can fit into fully with room
to spare. Use a large colander and a large bowl so that there is
plenty of room for the rice. I put the rice into the colander, the
colander into the bowl, and then the whole thing into the sink. Using
only COLD water (very important) I almost fill the bowl, thus covering
the rice fully. I keep the cold water slowly running into the bowl
while I use my hand to move the rice around. The water will be very
murky. I lift the colander out of the bowl, discard the water, run
the water over the colander and the rice to rinse it off, replace the
colander in the clean, empty bowl and repeat the process as many times
as is necessary to get to the point where the water is fairly clear.
This can take ten or fifteen minutes, but it is important. The
clearer the water, the better. By the time you are done, the rice
will have absorbed some water and will have expanded in volume.

Place the rice in the rice cooker. I choose to add the rice, then the
water and then to take the piece of dry Kombu, make cuts in it with a
scissors while keeping it in one piece (this exposes more of the
seaweed to the water) and place the kombu on top of the rice and water
before closing the lid. As soon as the rice is done (before it has a
chance to solidify in the cooker), remove and discard the Kombu and
empty the rice into the mixing container. You should then have a
hemisphere of rice sitting in the middle of the container.

Pour the sushi seasoning (sushi vinegar) over the rice somewhat
evenly. Your objective will be to coat every grain of rice with some
of this mixture. You can save some of the liquid and add it later as
you proceed with these instructions. Whatever works best for you in
getting the rice evenly coated is going to be fine.

You will probably have some liquid pooling in the bottom of the mixing
container. This is fine. You will mix it in with the rice as soon as
possible. You don't want the rice to sit in the liquid for long.

Ideally you want to mix the rice and the seasoning using a flat wooden
spatula. You cut into the rice at an angle of perhaps 30 degrees to
the bottom of the container and slide the rice around with as little
damage as possible. This means that you don't stir it or press it or
cut it or at least you try to keep the damage to a minimum. Your goal
is whole grains of undamaged rice covered with seasoning. I do a lot
of gentle pushing as I move the rice to where the liquid is and
eventually, when all the liquid has been absorbed, my gentle pushing
is designed to achieve fairly equal distribution of the seasoning.
During this process, if you saved some of the liquid, you can add it
as you see the need. I believe that most chefs don't save the liquid
for this purpose, however.

After the first couple of minutes in the mixing container, you should
start cooling the rice. You NEVER want to cool sushi rice in a
refrigerator. The traditional method is to use a hand held fan or
some other flat object and wave it back and forth over the rice while
you are mixing it. This can be a challenge, with one hand gently
mixing and the other fanning, so you might enlist the aid of a friend
or an electric fan on low power (which I have never seen done, btw.)
I do the best I can with two hands and then, although I am sure that
this is not recommended, I separate the fully seasoned rice into
small, flat batches in several containers, cover each container with a
damp cloth to keep the rice from drying out. I have never seen a chef
do this, so I only offer it as an admission of guilt.

Ideally the rice will be around 100 degrees fahrenheit when you are
done. It can be served between 70 and 100 degrees with great success
in my experience, but I am not a sushi chef.

If you have done all of this properly, you will notice that what you
have are whole grains of rice that are shiny. Each batch will have a
lovely aroma of vinegar.

Traditionally the rice is kept in a special insulated container after
it is cooked and until it is served. I don't have one of these, but
whatever I do I try to keep it moist (with a damp towel for a covering
or sealing it inside a non-metallic container. Remember - NO METAL!)

Good luck!

(BTW, there are numerous books written by sushi chefs that include
their particular recipes for sushi rice. I have 5 or 10 of these.
You might want to pick one up.)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rufus[_2_] View Post
Traditionally the rice is kept in a special insulated container after
it is cooked and until it is served. I don't have one of these, but
whatever I do I try to keep it moist (with a damp towel for a covering
or sealing it inside a non-metallic container. Remember - NO METAL!)

Good luck!

(BTW, there are numerous books written by sushi chefs that include
their particular recipes for sushi rice. I have 5 or 10 of these.
You might want to pick one up.)
First, what's with the no metal containers that differs from the one's you suggested? You do put in a damp towel for that isn't it? Plus, where can I get some of your sushi rice recipes?


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Default I need cooking tips on how to make good sushi rice?

On Sep 12, 7:13*am, haleymcadams1
> wrote:
> 'rufus[_2_ Wrote:
>
> > ;1659411']
> > Traditionally the rice is kept in a special insulated container after
> > it is cooked and until it is served. *I don't have one of these, but
> > whatever I do I try to keep it moist (with a damp towel for a covering
> > or sealing it inside a non-metallic container. *Remember - NO METAL!)

>
> > Good luck!

>
> > (BTW, there are numerous books written by sushi chefs that include
> > their particular recipes for sushi rice. *I have 5 or 10 of these.
> > You might want to pick one up.)

>
> First, what's with the no metal containers that differs from the one's
> you suggested? You do put in a damp towel for that isn't it? Plus, where
> can I get some of your sushi rice recipes?
>
> --
> haleymcadams1


I have read that vinegar, which is acid, reacts with some metals
producing an odd taste and those writers say that you shouldn't use
metal containers or utensils at all. I haven't done any scientific
testing on this but what I described above (wood, plastic, glass)
worked really well for me.

The damp towel covering the top (opening) of the container is just
meant to keep the rice from drying out.

The recipe I used is the one that I recommend. I included some of the
variations in my instructions (such as using different amounts of
sushi vinegar.) Beyond this, you can search for recipes on the
internet or read some of the books on sushi (most have a rice recipe)
but I don't think that you can get much better results than my recipe
above. IMHO
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Default I need cooking tips on how to make good sushi rice?

On 7/15/2011 2:28 AM, wingmark wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is it impossible to get the perfect sushi rice. No matter how many times
> i make sushi it never turns out like the japanese shop's rice. I know im
> not japanese but people who aren't can make good sushi rice so why cant
> i. Im great at cooking all other foods and have certificates in
> hospitality but just cannot cook sushi rice. If you have any tips it
> would be much appreciated.
>
> Regards


I'd recommend the following two links:

http://www.sushifaq.com/howtomakesus...me-sushi-rice/


http://www.sushifaq.com/howtomakesus...fe-sushi-rice/

The latter comes from an old member of this Usenet group actually.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rufus[_2_] View Post
On Sep 12, 7:13*am, haleymcadams1
wrote:
'rufus[_2_ Wrote:

;1659411']
Traditionally the rice is kept in a special insulated container after
it is cooked and until it is served. *I don't have one of these, but
whatever I do I try to keep it moist (with a damp towel for a covering
or sealing it inside a non-metallic container. *Remember - NO METAL!)


Good luck!


(BTW, there are numerous books written by sushi chefs that include
their particular recipes for sushi rice. *I have 5 or 10 of these.
You might want to pick one up.)


First, what's with the no metal containers that differs from the one's
you suggested? You do put in a damp towel for that isn't it? Plus, where
can I get some of your sushi rice recipes?

--
haleymcadams1


I have read that vinegar, which is acid, reacts with some metals
producing an odd taste and those writers say that you shouldn't use
metal containers or utensils at all. I haven't done any scientific
testing on this but what I described above (wood, plastic, glass)
worked really well for me.

The damp towel covering the top (opening) of the container is just
meant to keep the rice from drying out.

The recipe I used is the one that I recommend. I included some of the
variations in my instructions (such as using different amounts of
sushi vinegar.) Beyond this, you can search for recipes on the
internet or read some of the books on sushi (most have a rice recipe)
but I don't think that you can get much better results than my recipe
above. IMHO
Kokuho Rose is okay. It's mainly for common rice dishes.
Nishiki is considered a higher quality rice, and is a common Sushi Rice.
Most rice you'll see sold in the US, is harvested in California and Florida.
Even the ones that have only Japanese writing.
Japan may ship some rice outside of Japan, but they do not allow foreign rice into Japan.
Kikkoman makes a good vinegar for sushi.
Zojirushi does make fine rice cookers, but there a bit expensive. Tiger products are just as good, if not better...and a little less expensive.
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