Sushi comes in many forms, from sweet, seasoned soy pouches, to rolls with spicy raw tuna, to fileted shrimp on a puff of rice. It's not just your standard rolls. For a sushi lover, the choices are nearly unlimited, from traditional sushi styles, to more modern variations.
Only a very few things are standard when it comes to sushi, and the rice is one of them. While some variation in seasonings exists, the method of cooking sushi rice, or sticky rice, is fairly standard. However, it does require some skill to make excellent sushi rice. Many varieties of sushi can even be made at home, inexpensively, if one knows the tricks of the trade.
Types of Rice
First off, when selecting rice to put in sushi, always go with short grain. It's a bit harder to find in the grocery store, but try checking the Asian section. If all else fails, any Asian Market should carry a variety of short grain rices.
While any short grain rice will do for sushi, ideally one should select sticky rice. Sticky rice, as the name implies, sticks together better, and will maintain its consistency later without being squished. Squished rice gets sticky, but whole rice that sticks together on it's own makes an entirely different texture.
Rinsing
Now that you have the rice home, time to cook right? Not quite. If you just put the rice in the pot with water, the rice powder and residue will form a paste, and the rice will be too wet and gloppy. You have to rinse the rice in warm water first to remove the residue as much as possible.
However, if you over-rinse the rice, it won't turn out well either. It turns out dry and flaky, eliminating some of the stickiness. The rice might also burn if over-rinsed. The water used to rinse the rice shouldn't quite run clear, but be translucent with only a bit of white residue showing.
Boiling
Now we're ready to cook the rice. You can use either a simple pot, or a rice cooker. Either way, you should add two parts water for every part rice. The rice cooker will cook the rice for you without worrying about stirring. Only use plastic on the rice cooker, however, or the metal will scratch, which will make the rice stick and burn.
In a pot, the rice is a little trickier. Bring the water to a boil first, and then add the rice. The rice needs to cook for a few minutes at a low simmer. Stir the rice only very infrequently to keep it from sticking to the pot. If using a really good nonstick pot, just simmer the rice on a very low temperature without stirring, but bear in mind it needs to be a pot that won't stick.
In any regular pot, just stir once or twice. Turn the heat off after the rice is almost finished. A little water will be bubbling up through the rice. Leave it covered for another few minutes after the last stirring with no heat, to let it finish absorbing the water.
Seasoning
Once the rice is finished, it needs to be seasoned and then cooled. Put it in a big bowl for stirring, and add a bit of sugar and rice vinegar. The proportions of these depend on what kind of sushi, and on personal preference. For sweet sushi, add a bit more sugar than vinegar flavor, but be careful not to add too much. The rice should still have the flavor of both no matter what sushi you're making.
Stir in the seasonings thoroughly and let the sushi cool. Ideally, it should be refrigerated overnight in the seasonings to dry and to soak in some of the flavoring, but a few hours will do. While there is some appeal to warm sushi, it's much better cold, and is often made with leftover rice.
Sushi Rice in a Rice Cooker
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