How to Make Sushi Rice at Home

Sushi rice is the foundation of so many Japanese dishes beyond sushi. It consists of steamed Japanese short-grain rice that has been seasoned with vinegar, salt, and sugar. Besides sushi, it is used as a base for chirashi sushi, poke bowls, kaisendon, and more. 

In Japan, the same type of short-grain rice used for rice bowls, onigiri, and other dishes is also used for making sushi rice. However, some companies overseas have started selling rice for making sushi marketed as 'Sushi Rice'. As long as you have the normal short-grain rice used in Japanese cooking, you can make sushi rice easily at home. 

When it comes to seasoning sushi rice, you can use either unseasoned or seasoned rice vinegar. Since we are making our own seasoning mixture for this recipe, we will use unseasoned rice vinegar. The difference between the two is that seasoned rice vinegar already contains the sugar and salt needed for seasoning sushi rice. However, a con of using it's harder to control the final taste of the sushi rice. Not to mention, there may be other chemicals or preservatives added that you may not want in your final dish. When making your own seasoned rice vinegar (by using the non-seasoned kind) you can control exactly how sweet or salty the mixture is, and what goes into it. 

We've previously shared recipes for how to cook rice in a rice cooker and in a pot, so feel free to use those recipes when cooking the short-grain rice for sushi rice. Once you have the cooked and cooled rice, all you need to do is season it with the vinegar-based seasoning and it's ready to be used. Now, let's get to the recipe!