How to Make Sushi Rice in a Rice Cooker
The easiest way to make sushi rice for homemade sushi — in a rice cooker!
Yesterday I posted my how-to for making homemade sushi, and this post is completely dedicated to making the sushi rice.
There is an art to making perfect sushi rice, but I think that’s best left to the sushi chefs who have spent years learning how to make it perfectly. When I make sushi at home, I leave the cooking up to my rice cooker. And as long as you have a somewhat decent rice cooker, the results should definitely be satisfactory!
I have this rice cooker, and at $60 I think it’s a very reasonably priced appliance. I use it a ton and I’m impressed with the rice it turns out.
To be honest though, I don’t think you even need to spend $60 on a rice cooker to get a decent one, as this one has a lot of extra features that go beyond cooking rice.
To get started, combine rice and water in the rice cooker. I use Nishiki rice, which is easy to find and regarded as a high-quality rice. My Japanese friends say it’s the best!
As far as washing goes, I don’t rinse this particular brand of rice. A lot of people are adamant about this, but the directions for Nishiki instruct you to combine the rice with the water as is. You can wash the rice if you feel more comfortable.
While the rice cooks, all you need to finish it up is some seasoned rice vinegar. If you google sushi rice, you’ll see that most recipes call for rice vinegar, salt, and sugar, then you dissolve them together and season the rice with it.
Buying rice vinegar with the salt and sugar already in it takes that step away, so that’s why I keep this on hand:
For the 1.5 cups of uncooked rice that we used, about 1/4 cup of the rice vinegar is ideal. Add it to the rice:
Gently toss the rice around to further distribute the rice vinegar, trying not to mash or flatten the rice:
Then it’s ready to be used for homemade sushi. Enjoy!
Rice Cooker Sushi Rice
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups sushi rice (I use Nishiki)
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (I use Marukan)
Instructions
- Place the rice and water into a rice cooker. Cook the rice according to the “white rice” setting on the rice cooker.
- When the rice has finished cooking, evenly pour the seasoned rice vinegar all over the rice. Toss the rice around to further distribute the rice vinegar, taking care to be gentle, and not mash the rice.
- It is now ready to be used for sushi. Here’s my post on homemade sushi.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Homemade Sushi:
Oh wow, that is so cool! I didn’t realize rice vinegar (and good rice) is all you really need to get that consistency.
can I prepare the rice a day before and refrigerate it?
This was great, so fluffy, and nice and sour.
Can I use sweetened black rice vinegar?
Can I use white rice in place of sushi rice?
Hi Lisa, for sushi specifically it should definitely be sushi rice that you buy. It has a certain stickiness to it that plain white rice doesn’t have.
Great recipe, I always use it. Makes perfect sushi rice every time.
Hi Andy, that’s great to hear!
Hey Joanne, such an informative article you had shared. i didn’t know how to make sushi rice in a rice cooker. Your tips will help me to do that correctly.i will tell my friends about this recipe. keep sharing like this type of post.. 🙂
Wow, I love this sushi . Thanks so much for sharing!
Turned out really well!
Seems easy to make. I wish there were alternatives if the brand/product is not available in store such as the seasones rice vinegar. 🤷🏻♀️
It’s $6.88 on Amazon.
Too much water. My rice turned out super mushy
Do you cool down the rice or out in fridge before rolling?
I put the vinegar in with the water during the cooking process to better distribute and not to mush the rice. Worked great.
Do you put Rice Vinegar when the rice cooker is finished?
the description is good but i thought you had to cool it. Am I right?
And even if you use the already seasoned rice i think you should tell people how to do the usual stuff.
How long before you make the sushi do you have to make this?
Ideally the rice is warm, but not hot. So you want to make the sushi pretty soon after. Maybe 10 minutes.