ReC!Pe: Sushi Rice

I am starting a recipe section to share out any interesting recipes going forward. The first to do the honor would of course be - no points for guessing it right - sushi ^_^

To begin, I would suggest you to get a sushi-making kit. Each kit usually comes with

• a bottle of komezu (rice vinegar) used in sushi rice,
• a bottle of Japanese shoyu (soy sauce), a basic ingredient in many Japanese dishes,
• a tube of wasabi (Japanese horseradish), and
• a makisu (bamboo mat), essential when preparing maki (sushi rolls)

Sushi Rice

The essence of sushi is very much the rice. Short-grain rice is recommended and is readily available at your nearby supermarkets (Cold Storage, Tesco, etc). If you perfected the taste, everything else will simply fall into place ;)

What You Need:

3 cups (600g) short-grain white rice

3 cups (750ml) water

1/2 cup (125ml) rice vinegar

1/4 cup (55g) sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

What To Do:

1. Wash the rice, of coz! Place rice in a large bowl, fill with cold water, stir with hand till water turns quite cloudy. Drain; repeat process two or three times until water is almost clear. Drain rice in colander for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile prepare the sushi vinegar. Stir combined vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl until sugar dissolves.
3. Next, cook the rice with a rice cooker (which I believe exist in every household :P). Place drained rice and the water in rice cooker and cover. Switch to 'Cook'. When cooker automatically switches to 'Keep Warm', allow rice to stand, covered for about 15 minutes.
4. Spread rice in a large, non-metallic flat-bottomed bowl/tub. Using a rice paddle, repeatedly slide through the rice at a sharp angle to break up lumps and separate grains, gradually pouring in the sushi vinegar at the same time. Note that not all of the vinegar may be required; the rice shouldn't become to mushy.
5. Continue to slice the rice by lifting the rice from the outside into the center. Using the other hand, fan the rice until it is almost cool (I just on the ceiling fan here). This will take about 5 minutes. It is believed this quick cooling process helps the sushi rice to achieve the desired texture, consistency and flavor.
6. Do not over-cool the rice or it will harden. When done, keep the rice covered with a damp cloth to stop it drying out while making sushi.

The sushi rice is now ready! ^_^