**The Art of Perfect Rice: A Guide to Steamed Japanese-Style Sushi Rice**
For many of us, cooking perfect rice can be a daunting task. But what if I told you that with a simple trick and a few basic ingredients, you can achieve perfectly cooked Japanese-style sushi rice every time? In this article, we'll explore the secrets behind steaming sushi rice and provide you with a foolproof recipe to get you started.
**The Magic of the Towel**
So, what's the secret to perfect sushi rice? For me, it all comes down to the humble towel. This might sound like an unusual ingredient, but trust me, it makes all the difference. The towel is used to seal the pot tightly, allowing the rice to steam perfectly and ensuring that every grain of rice cooks evenly. By placing a towel over the pot and closing the lid, you create a tight seal that prevents moisture from escaping. This simple trick ensures that your rice steams in just the right amount of time, resulting in perfectly cooked sushi rice.
**Rinsing and Soaking the Rice**
Before we can start cooking our sushi rice, we need to rinse it thoroughly to remove excess starch. Excess starch can make your rice stick together or become mushy during cooking. To do this, simply measure out 1 cup and a half of short-grain rice for three to four people and add 1 cup and a half of water. Rinse the rice in a fine-mesh strainer until the water runs clear, then drain well. Repeat this process several times until most of the starch has been rinsed out.
**Cooking the Rice**
Now that we have our rinsed and soaked rice, it's time to cook it. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup and a half of rinsed rice and 1 cup and a half of water. Add a pinch of salt to taste, then bring the mixture to a light boil over high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and place a towel over the pot. Close the lid tightly, then fold a clean dish towel around the lid to create an additional seal. Place a plate on top of the pot to act as a makeshift lid and to provide extra fire safety precautions.
**The Final Steps**
With the pot sealed and cooking, we need to wait for it to steam perfectly. Move the pot to your weakest burner and cook for exactly 10 minutes. Then, shut off the heat and move the pot to a cooler burner to finish steaming with the lid on for at least five more minutes. You can let it sit longer if you need to. Finally, open up the lid and check that your rice has reached perfection.
**Tips and Variations**
If you're looking to get creative with your sushi rice, here are a few tips and variations to try:
* Use short-grain Japanese rice for the best results.
* Experiment with different seasonings, such as soy sauce or sake, to add extra flavor to your rice.
* Try adding some grated ginger or garlic to the pot for an added burst of flavor.
* For fried rice, simply cook the rice according to the recipe above, then stir-fry it with your favorite ingredients.
**Conclusion**
Cooking perfect sushi rice doesn't have to be intimidating. With a few simple tricks and basic ingredients, you can achieve perfectly cooked Japanese-style sushi rice every time. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner cook, I encourage you to give this recipe a try and experience the joy of cooking delicious sushi rice at home. Happy cooking!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni still don't have a rice cooker yet i'm stuck always cooking my rice on the stove in a pot which i know is an ideal or the best way to cook rice but it is what it is and because it is what it is we gotta figure out a way to work around it so i'm always looking for little tricks and hacks to making rice and this guy steve owen has a really fantastic one and the trick is using a rag so let's just jump right into it and learn how to make perfect short grain rice i've been cooking a lot of rice lately and this short grain sushi style rice is my favorite i like it better than jasmine rice it's my rice of choice and today we're going to learn how to make it perfect foolproof you can't screw this up as long as you follow these directions i'll leave a link down to steve's channel if you want to check it out but his main trick to this is a towel this towel is gonna ensure that your pot is super sealed tightly it's gonna allow the rice to steam perfectly and it's a great little hack we're also gonna use the right ratio of rice to water we've done a rice video before we talked about how the rice instructions on every package tell you to use too much water the ratio is one part short grain rice to one part water so the first thing we need to do is rinse the rice so for me about a cup and a half of rice to two cups of rice of this style rice is enough for three four people so i always go with a minimum of a cup and a half and then we're just gonna add a cup and a half of water to that so i'm gonna measure it out that's roughly right i'm just gonna fill this up with water and then we want to get in there and we're going to start to rub that starch and you see it get nice and milky instantly when we see that we rinse it out we add more water and then repeat that process until most of the starch has been rinsed off now i've let this sit overnight and let this soak and come out great the next day you could then use this right away as long as you give it a good few rinses it's going to be hard to get all the starch out but you're looking for it to visibly get less starchy in the water so just know your goal is to get as much starch out the longer you do it the more starch you're going to be able to pull out so it's up to you how much time you have but usually i'll do this like an hour before and just let this kind of sit for a minimum of an hour if i can if not let me cook it as normal anyway once you're done soaking the rice or rinsing it strain out all the water and then we're ready to cook so i have my one and a half cups of rice going into the pot now i'm gonna add one and a half cups of water and now that goes in now you might have heard that finger trick where they say that the water should come up to the first line of your finger that actually doesn't really work for me surprisingly what works for me is half of my finger and i've been measuring this rice out then pouring it in and then doing the finger and it's really kind of verified that it only goes up halfway to your finger so this is just my experience that seems like we're putting a lot of water into our rice i'm gonna throw in some salt you know i'm gonna bring this over to the stove with a rag and a plate it'll make sense get the pot on high heat to start and bring to a light boil while stirring the rice to ensure nothing sticks on the bottom once you start to see the water beginning to boil turn off the heat and place the towel over the pot then close the pot lid tightly on top of the towel fold the towel over the lid then place a plate on top just as an extra fire safety precaution then get the heat back onto its lowest setting i move the whole pot to my weakest burner and then cook it for exactly 10 minutes then shut the heat off move to a cooler burner and let it steam with the lid on for at least five more minutes and you can let that sit longer if you need if you're preparing a meal open up the lid and if you did it right there should be no more moisture left the rice shouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan nothing should be mushy you should have perfect rice man it's foolproof every time i've cooked it this way it's like straight out of a japanese restaurant i love rice shout out to steve owen for the towel idea sushi rice is my favorite to make fried rice with so if you got extras make sure you save that i'm working on my fried rice recipe that'll be coming soon until then i want you to go give this a shot let me know if it worked for you let me know if it solved any of your rice issues i think this trick is gonna solve it thank you to all my patrons scrolling up on the screen appreciate all your support if you want to support me you could become a patron link down in the description and on the screen you could also buy some merch some hate less cook more merch i had a guy who just got scammed because he googled hate less cook more instead of following my links and there's a lot of people just taking hate less cook more and putting it on shirts so if you want one officially make sure you visit my links don't try and search it on google anyway that's all that i have for you today i'll see you next time until then take care of yourself and go feed yourselfi still don't have a rice cooker yet i'm stuck always cooking my rice on the stove in a pot which i know is an ideal or the best way to cook rice but it is what it is and because it is what it is we gotta figure out a way to work around it so i'm always looking for little tricks and hacks to making rice and this guy steve owen has a really fantastic one and the trick is using a rag so let's just jump right into it and learn how to make perfect short grain rice i've been cooking a lot of rice lately and this short grain sushi style rice is my favorite i like it better than jasmine rice it's my rice of choice and today we're going to learn how to make it perfect foolproof you can't screw this up as long as you follow these directions i'll leave a link down to steve's channel if you want to check it out but his main trick to this is a towel this towel is gonna ensure that your pot is super sealed tightly it's gonna allow the rice to steam perfectly and it's a great little hack we're also gonna use the right ratio of rice to water we've done a rice video before we talked about how the rice instructions on every package tell you to use too much water the ratio is one part short grain rice to one part water so the first thing we need to do is rinse the rice so for me about a cup and a half of rice to two cups of rice of this style rice is enough for three four people so i always go with a minimum of a cup and a half and then we're just gonna add a cup and a half of water to that so i'm gonna measure it out that's roughly right i'm just gonna fill this up with water and then we want to get in there and we're going to start to rub that starch and you see it get nice and milky instantly when we see that we rinse it out we add more water and then repeat that process until most of the starch has been rinsed off now i've let this sit overnight and let this soak and come out great the next day you could then use this right away as long as you give it a good few rinses it's going to be hard to get all the starch out but you're looking for it to visibly get less starchy in the water so just know your goal is to get as much starch out the longer you do it the more starch you're going to be able to pull out so it's up to you how much time you have but usually i'll do this like an hour before and just let this kind of sit for a minimum of an hour if i can if not let me cook it as normal anyway once you're done soaking the rice or rinsing it strain out all the water and then we're ready to cook so i have my one and a half cups of rice going into the pot now i'm gonna add one and a half cups of water and now that goes in now you might have heard that finger trick where they say that the water should come up to the first line of your finger that actually doesn't really work for me surprisingly what works for me is half of my finger and i've been measuring this rice out then pouring it in and then doing the finger and it's really kind of verified that it only goes up halfway to your finger so this is just my experience that seems like we're putting a lot of water into our rice i'm gonna throw in some salt you know i'm gonna bring this over to the stove with a rag and a plate it'll make sense get the pot on high heat to start and bring to a light boil while stirring the rice to ensure nothing sticks on the bottom once you start to see the water beginning to boil turn off the heat and place the towel over the pot then close the pot lid tightly on top of the towel fold the towel over the lid then place a plate on top just as an extra fire safety precaution then get the heat back onto its lowest setting i move the whole pot to my weakest burner and then cook it for exactly 10 minutes then shut the heat off move to a cooler burner and let it steam with the lid on for at least five more minutes and you can let that sit longer if you need if you're preparing a meal open up the lid and if you did it right there should be no more moisture left the rice shouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan nothing should be mushy you should have perfect rice man it's foolproof every time i've cooked it this way it's like straight out of a japanese restaurant i love rice shout out to steve owen for the towel idea sushi rice is my favorite to make fried rice with so if you got extras make sure you save that i'm working on my fried rice recipe that'll be coming soon until then i want you to go give this a shot let me know if it worked for you let me know if it solved any of your rice issues i think this trick is gonna solve it thank you to all my patrons scrolling up on the screen appreciate all your support if you want to support me you could become a patron link down in the description and on the screen you could also buy some merch some hate less cook more merch i had a guy who just got scammed because he googled hate less cook more instead of following my links and there's a lot of people just taking hate less cook more and putting it on shirts so if you want one officially make sure you visit my links don't try and search it on google anyway that's all that i have for you today i'll see you next time until then take care of yourself and go feed yourself\n"
