Sushi Rice

The first time I introduced my husband and children to Sushi we were in Paris, France. There was a sushi shop next to our hotel so I picked some up and brought it back to the hotel for dinner. Kaitlyn LOVED it. She gobbled it right up. Roger liked it more after he'd had a piece or two. Maura was a little suspicious at first, but I think she's coming around. I love eating Sushi, but I have to admit it's pretty expensive to buy...so I scoured the internet and various cookbooks for a good Sushi recipe...this is what I found.

First you have to start with a good sushi rice....meaning short grain or medium grain. Some packages of rice are marketed as "Sushi" rice, but really any short or medium grain rice will do. You want to rinse the rice until the water runs totally clear (about five or six times). Cook the rice in a rice cooker. The general rule of thumb is a cup of water in the rice cooker for every cup of rice. If you put a little too much in, no worries, the extra water will boil off.

Next you make your Sushi "Su" to mix with the rice. You'll mix 1 part of Su for every 4 parts of cooked rice. The recipe below is enough for about 3 1/2 cups of rice.

1/2 cup rice vinegar*
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup mirin

*I think this recipe is a tad too sweet so I splash a bit more vinegar into the su.

1. Heat vinegar, sugar, and sake or mirin in a saucepan just to dissolve and combine. Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Cook rice according to rice cooker directions. Transfer to large mixing bowl.
3. Pour su (vinegar mixture) over the rice, gently folding to incorporate.
4. Let rice stand for 10 minutes, then fold again.