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anyone got a good sushi rice recepie?

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Morgia:
the stickiness of the rice is not really a matter of the seasoning. I could make you rice that wasn't seasoned at all but sticky as hell...
like I said, I don't use a rice cooker, but as a general rule for sushi rice (the round-korn is perfect btw) you take two cups of water for every cup of rice used (so if you use 2 cups of rice - 4 cups of water), close the lid and cook it until the rice absorbed all the water (in a pot... not too sure about the rice-cooker), but you'll have to stir regularly otherwise you'll have a nice crust of burnt rice on the bottom (some people even make it that way and enjoy nibbling the crust afterwards).

spinsane:
"Sushi rice" doesn't come preseasoned.

All ingredients added to "sushi rice" is done so AFTER it is done cooking. Pretty much you steam it, let it chill, then add all the junk in. Technically speaking, all of the stuff was probably originally a way to preserve the rice so that it would last longer, but the flavor of vinegar is not too desirable, so sweetening became popular (that's my guess). Now a days, white rice vinegar has a very clear and clean and crisp flavor that doesn't require much, if any, sugar to compensate. Again, a dilution of sake with white rice vinegar will usually do the same thing. If someone is marketing 'sushi rice', it's probably semi-gimmicky. It may be a very good strain of rice for sushi, but that it is ultimately white rice.

I'm not sure about the 'boiling a mix' thing- haven't heard of that. But... y'know what they say, every Japanese family has their own secrets. Heck, if you google recipes for "sushi rice," you'll get bombarded by at least a thousand different mixes and fancy techniques to get different but similar results. I recommend going the simplest most holistic route, but ultimately it just depends on your taste prefence. Some cool tricks result in neat flavors. I think I'm going to try your boiling thing using some kombu and benito flakes.

The stickiness is definitely dependent upon the water/rice ratio, cooking temperature, and the amount of water allowed to escape during steaming. A pressure cooker will probably hold more liquid than a saucepan, while a rice cooker will not lose any liquid. Rice cookers will give you consistent results, so, while I don't use one, I would actually recommend getting used to the settings so that you can get what you want. Even if the rice isn't sticky as it comes out, a small amount of added liquid (the alcohol) will fluff up the rice nicely if its mixed in properly. Technically speaking, you're 'supposed' to let the rice cool to room temperature.

I don't know any ratios or measurements (in terms of added liquid/sugar), but the basics are 1.5c water to 1c White Rice and 2c water to 1c brown rice (yea- you can do brown rice sushi style). I typically do a max of 1/8c liquid per 1c dry rice, but rarely ever use that much liquid. It sounds ridiculous, but even the humidity can have an effect on stickiness, so a specific recipe will never give you exactly what you specifically want. Baking, for example, is CRAAAZY complicated when you consider the conditions of the bakery. Room temp and humidity can cause the 2/5 ratio for bread baking to fluctuate to as much as 2.75/5- which... technically speaking, is a pretty huge difference (which is why a rice cooker is nice for its consistency, but how the rice rests will partially depend upon the temp/humidity). Ultimately, it's about getting a desirable texture, stickiness and fluffiness. All of that will depend upon how it is steamed and the quantity of alcoholic liquid you add afterwards, other ingredients don't really play into this factor, so long as you don't add too much to disrupt the giri of each rice (thai basil is a great additive for rice- after it's done steaming, just toss some thai basil in there while it does it rests, the result is a nice fragrance and flavor).

*shrugs* The fun of cooking is experimentation, as long as you have an idea of what variables you're dealing with, you can eventually get something palatable. I never really took sushi recipes seriously since most of them are ridiculous and gimmicky. Again, it's all derived from vinegar being used as a perservative. So as long as you keep that in mind, regulate the liquid content with the steaming method, you'll find something you'll like. And, well, if it tastes like crap, you can either adjust your added liquid (again, nigiri-sake and mizurin blend is nice) or throw some sugar in. I would DEFINITELY stabilize a BASE before getting comfortable adding extra ingredients (like seaweed).

For extra fun- use arborio rice. fricken amazing for sushi. I had some dry left over after making risotto, that stuff blows the pants off of any white rice I've ever used.

Right- I'm no expert, but I'd call myself a follower of Gourmandism. So- I definitely recommend experimenting and having fun and just thinking about the whole process.

Morgia:
spinsane... we were never talking about pre-seasoned rice. We were barely talking about the ingredients that you add into the water in which the rice is boiled. Ever asked yourself why you boil pasta and rice in salted water? One reason is the flavor of the endproduct of course, since salt will be allowed to be absorbed during the cooking process.. but another reason is that salt actually has an effect on the boiling temperature of water. Since usually neither of us lives on absolute zero height, water in our kitchens doesn't boil at 100°C, but rather at around 95-98°C. Salt lowers that boiling temperature even further, so as to achieve a "perfect" cooking temperature for aforementioned food at around 85-89°C (merely adding salt won't usually lower the boiling point that far unless you use A LOT, but it achieves a good middle).
And I really doubt that the vinegar was added for storage reasons. If you want to store rice, you store it in its dry form. Rice is usually cooked in just the amount you need. So it's really more of a taste thingy. Plus the extra fertility of the added sugar would ruin the storage effect of vinegar anyway. (Unless you use a huge amount of sugar and produce sirup... that's too much - even for fungus :P )

TwEeD:

--- Quote from: mgz on January 06, 2010, 03:36:10 AM ---could simply have been the women you dealt with were more professional.
In a restaurant atmosphere reproducing the same dish over and over is needed which is where strictly defined recipes come into play vs wingin it. Cook A needs to more or less be able to reproduce the same thing as Cook B. Or your restaurant goes down the shitter fast

--- End quote ---

Nope, not at all actually. I think it rather boils down on the fact that if you don't need measurements to make good dishes/be an excellent cook, that you got the feeling for it (aka more professional) ...  "Fingerspitzengefühl' as the germans would say...

mgz:

--- Quote from: TwEeD on January 06, 2010, 10:23:32 AM ---
--- Quote from: mgz on January 06, 2010, 03:36:10 AM ---could simply have been the women you dealt with were more professional.
In a restaurant atmosphere reproducing the same dish over and over is needed which is where strictly defined recipes come into play vs wingin it. Cook A needs to more or less be able to reproduce the same thing as Cook B. Or your restaurant goes down the shitter fast

--- End quote ---

Nope, not at all actually. I think it rather boils down on the fact that if you don't need measurements to make good dishes/be an excellent cook, that you got the feeling for it (aka more professional) ...  "Fingerspitzengefühl' as the germans would say...


--- End quote ---
more experienced yes, but being more profressional in the restaurant industry would be more along the lines of having a consistent reproducible meal in the sense that your recipe is able to be prepared by others. So when describing it to another professional who is inquiring about it one would be able to communicate the recipe in a clear concise manner. Not with vague amounts for ingredients that could completely change the outcome of a dish. Your mistaking the ability to prepare a good meal based on experience with being professional.

Now thats not to say that a  professional wouldnt take a recipe that requires say 1 cup of something and be able to fairly accurately add said amount to a dish in preparation.
But trying to descripe that as part of its recipe is very unprofessional.

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