Sushi rice is the heart of sushi making, and while it may seem simple, it makes all the difference.
It’s just cooked rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt—nothing more. But once you master the technique, you’ll be able to create all kinds of sushi, from hand rolls to California rolls and beyond.
What’s Sushi Rice?
Sushi rice is Japanese short-grain rice that’s steamed and then seasoned with vinegar. To make good sushi rice, the grains are cooked a little firmer than regular steamed rice—this is done by using slightly less water—so they can hold their shape when mixed later.
The best vinegar for sushi rice is rice vinegar, though grain-based vinegar can also be used. Vinegar not only gives sushi rice its signature flavor, but it also plays an important role in preservation. The acetic acid lowers the pH, creating an acidic environment where bacteria cannot thrive. This is especially important because sushi often involves raw fish, and vinegared rice helps reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
When mixing the hot rice with the vinegar seasoning, it’s traditional to fan the rice with a hand fan called uchiwa. This technique helps excess moisture evaporate so the rice doesn’t turn soggy. While this step may not make a big difference for a small batch, it becomes much more useful if you’re preparing sushi rice in larger quantities.
Tips for making Sushi Rice
- If you’re using our Steamed Rice recipe, reduce the amount of water. Use 1¼ cups water per 1 cup uncooked rice. When using a rice cooker, choose sushi mode or slightly reduce the water.
- When mixing steamed rice with vinegar mixture, gently mix with a cutting motion so you don’t mash the grains.
- For extra flavor, you can sprinkle in some toasted sesame seeds.
Recipes where Sushi Rice is used
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cup steamed rice (using 8 oz-cup)
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker, or follow the method in our Steamed Rice recipe. If you’re using the Steamed Rice recipe, be sure to reduce the water by 1/4 cup (60 ml) when making sushi rice so the grains stay slightly firmer.
- Mix rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until sugar dissolves.
- Transfer the hot rice to a large, flat bowl, then gently “cut” the vinegar mixture into the rice using a rice paddle.
This recipe was originally published in March 2012. The post was updated on August 27, 2025 with more useful content, new photos and additional texts.
7 Comments
what can you do if you don’t have a rice cooker?
cause i don’t have one
isabella,
please watch our steamed rice recipe!
I was wondering if calrose rice could be used in place of sushi rice. Also can I use it (after made into a flour) for making mochi?
Calrose rice (a kind of short grain rice) is used to make sushi. To make mochi, you need mochi flour (sweet rice flour) not rice flour. It may be easier to buy Mochiko (sweet rice flour) than making it at home.
What do you mean by cutting the vinegar into the rice?
I put everything in rice cooker and it comes out just right!!
Hello, so I’ve been looking at many recipes for rice preparation, and some of the sushi rice recipes say to use dashi in place of water when cooking the rice. Is that normal? Does it have much of an impact other than adding a bit of umami to the dish?