Sushi rice: season warm, cool fast
Sushi rice is short-grain, rich in sticky amylopectin starch. Right after cooking, the grains are warm and soft and soak up the vinegar, sugar and salt evenly. Once the rice cools, its starch firms up and the seasoning only coats the outside.
Fold gently and fan the rice
Tip the rice into a wide bowl and use a paddle in slicing, folding strokes. Hard stirring breaks the grains and releases starch, which turns rice to paste. Fan as you fold so surface moisture evaporates and the grains cool fast and turn glossy.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
When should the vinegar, sugar, and salt mix go onto sushi rice?
While the rice is still warm. Warm grains are soft enough to absorb the seasoning evenly.
True or false: Chilling the rice in the fridge before seasoning helps it hold its shape for sushi.
False. Chilled rice firms up and resists seasoning, so season it while warm.
What went wrong? You beat the vinegar mix into hot rice with a wooden spoon. The rice turns into a mushy paste.
Hard stirring broke the grains and freed starch. A paddle used in gentle cutting folds keeps the grains whole.
Fill the blank: Fanning the rice evaporates surface ___, so the grains turn glossy.
Fanning the rice evaporates surface moisture, so the grains turn glossy. Surface moisture evaporates quickly in moving air, leaving a glossy grain.
Why rinse sushi rice before cooking it?
It washes off loose surface starch that would glue grains. Less loose starch means the grains cook up separate yet still sticky.