Sushi rice

The traditional dish of Japanese cuisine, which is based on rice with acetic seasoning, a variety of seafood and other ingredients, is sushi. Since the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century, this very tasty and no less useful meal has become popular not only in its homeland, but throughout the world.

A mandatory component in various varieties of sushi, as well as sashimi and rolls, is rice for sushi. The difference is mainly only in the choice of numerous fillings, seasonings and their combinations. The calorie content of rice for sushi is 333 kcal per hundred grams.

The taste and consistency of boiled rice is the basis that is simply necessary for the preparation of high-quality sushi, and therefore this most important ingredient must be selected with special care. And due to the fact that rice for sushi is supplied from many countries, you have to make your choice among its countless varieties.

In general, any rice is classified by the degree of processing of this cereal, depending on which it is divided into peeled and ground. During this treatment, the ground rice is thoroughly polished, depriving it of sprouts and seedlings, while only husks are removed from the peeled rice. Therefore, such rice has a large amount of nutrients and retains maximum beneficial qualities. However, despite the difference in processing, the nutritional value and calorie content of sushi rice, which is large enough, is not too different.

The best option is considered to be white fine-grained Japanese sushi rice, which has a characteristic mark on the packaging, which is suitable for preparing this dish. In the absence of such, you can, of course, buy white fine-grained or oblong rice, but the structure and taste of the finished dish will be slightly different from the traditional option.

By the way, experts argue that when choosing rice for sushi, you should always look at the date of production of the product, since the cereals of the current year's crop may become too sticky during the cooking process, which is unacceptable. Be that as it may, you always need to choose rice of the same size, while avoiding a product on whose grains there are cracks or white stripes. So you will be insured against the possible purchase of low-quality sushi rice.

In the process of preparing this product, you need to follow some rules so that the finished rice is ideal for sushi or rolls. First of all, it must be washed four times (until the water is transparent) with cold water, and then cast in a colander and leave for about an hour. If rice is hydrated enough, it takes on a slightly matte hue.

It is customary to add a special mixture to the already boiled sushi rice to give it a specific taste and the necessary stickiness. It consists of white rice or wine vinegar, sea salt and sugar. All these components are thoroughly mixed, and then added to the finished rice, mixed again and used to prepare a wide variety of types of rolls, sushi, as well as their varieties - sashimi.