I was pretty sure that I had sushi rice and nori. It's one of those things that I always think about making, but never quite actually end up doing. So, in the spirit of following through on trivial life goals, I am going to make sushi! Now, as I said, I was pretty sure that I had sushi rice and nori. I endeavored to go to the grocery without double checking, though. And ended up spending probably an hour trying to determine exactly where I had seen them... And why I was so sure that I did actually have them in my apartment!
I looked in the obvious places. Was it in my pantry cabinet? No. In the cubicles in my closet where the baking supplies and all of the other extra rice apparently go to die because who knew that I owned calrose rice or had quite so many bars of baking chocolate and bread flour?? Unfortunately not. How about above the refrigerator because I am now running out of places to look? Nope. The actual pantry? Unfortunately not. And then it hit me. There is only one more place to look. The random cabinet above my sink that I can't actually reach because it is so far above my head? And success!
After checking whether or not nori actually expires, which apparently it does not if stored if an airtight container in a relatively climate consistent environment because that package was absolutely past its sell by date. I endeavored to make sushi rice. Something that I have definitely not done before! Especially since I pretty much exclusively cook brown rice because there is pretty much no nutritional value to white rice. But food is not always meant to be "healthy." Sometimes it is purely indulgent for the sake of being delicious. Otherwise, we would simply sustain purely off of potatoes and kale.
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Variations of Sushi Rice
There are plenty of types of rice out there. I ordinarily swap for brown rice whenever possible. And, while there is brown sushi rice available out there, sushi is not quite my forte! And brown rice is oftentimes more difficult to work with if you don't know what you're doing or following a recipe from someone who knows what they're doing. I would never suggest just adding brown rice to a rice cooker with water! It would not turn out. I add heavy amounts of softening ingredients, like squash, sweet potatoes, and olive oil.
So, the thought of doing this with sushi rice? Seemed out of my wheelhouse at the present moment. Maybe one day! In the meantime, I do have plenty of other recipes with brown rice where the substitution is simple enough.
Cooking sushi rice is incredibly simple. All that you have to do is soak the rice slightly beforehand and then add to a rice cooker. Voila! Thirty to 45 minutes later and you've gold perfectly sticky rice. Most recipes recommend adding a bit of rice vinegar in the end as well. I have heard that this helps with adding acidity to the dish in case you make sushi with raw fish. Although I have a sinking suspicion that this is more anecdotally helpful than actually making something like ceviche where the meat is cured by being marinated in the acidity of the dish. Which absolutely isn't in remotely high enough quantities here! Not to mention... not actually touching the meat in sushi rolls where the rice is on the outside of the nori.
Add sushi rice to a small bowl and soak in water for 15 minutes.Some recipes will tell you to rinse the rice. Others to soak it before cooking. I'm not sure that rinsing sushi rice is the best way to go here. For one, it's already been rinsed. No rice that you buy commercially in stores hasn't already been rinsed. It's unlawful not to clean anything beforehand in the United States. It has absolutely already been washed and sealed in an airtight container! You also do actually want sticky rice to... stick together. So, washing off any extra starch in the rice? Seems counterproductive. Although soaking does actually cause the rice to soak up some of the water. This in turn should theoretically soften the rice more than not soaking it beforehand and may actually help with a sticky rice. This is my first time cooking it, though, and I have no idea whether or not this is an old wives tale or is actually necessary! But the packaging told me to. And I don't think that it can hurt in this scenario.
Put rice and water into the rice cooker. Press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 30-45 minutes to cook.Alternatively you can simmer on the stove. Add all of the ingredients to a pot, bring uncovered to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook covered for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet squash and rice are tender. Turn off heat, add lid, and let sit another 5-10 minutes.
When the rice is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes, and then fluff with a wooden spoon and mix in rice vinegar.Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For tips and tricks on The Fundamentals of Cooking Rice, particularly brown rice, check out my article on the matter. Rice is surprisingly more difficult to cook in a rice cooker than the name would suggest and there are a multitude of simple solutions for common problems, like overcooking and becoming mushy or drying out. There are also some solutions for remedying these issues after the fact, instead of starting over!
This may help slightly less with sushi rice... Because it is white rice and a sticky rice. But there are some pointers there that may still be helpful if you're new to cooking rice or just looking for some more information on the matter.
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