What Do All Sushi Rolls Have In Common? Sushi Rice!!!

Did you know that there is a specific rice used for sushi? Do you know what sets it apart from your normal every day rice and how it stays together so well? Chances are probably not. So today's post is a tribute to one of the biggest staples of Japanese cuisine....sushi rice. 

Sushi rice is prepared with short-grain Japanese rice, which has a consistency that differs from long-grain strains such as those from India. The essential quality is its stickiness. Rice that is too sticky has a mushy texture. However, if not sticky enough, it feels dry. 

Freshly harvested rice usually has too much water, and requires extra time to drain the rice cooker after washing. Sushi is made with white, short-grained, Japanese rice mixed with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and occasionally kombu and sake. It is usually cooled to room temperature before being used for a filling in a "sushi." In some japanese restaurants, short grain brown rice and wild rice are used as well.

There are regional variations in sushi rice and, of course, individual chefs have their own individual methods. However, most of the variations are in the rice vinegar dressing. The Tokyo version of the dressing commonly uses more salt; while in Osaka, the dressing has more sugar.

So there you have it. Now when you go to your favorite local sushi restaurant you can tell all your friends about the important "role" rice has in the process of making sushi.

Sayounara!

-Ichiban

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