Lesson 1: Rice

Fail-safe sushi rice

Makes 1.1 kg of sushi rice

Put 500g sushi rice in a large mixing bowl.

‘Rough-wash’ the rice

Fill the bowl with water, stir the rice with your hand (not too hard). Tip the bowl, empty out the water and refill.

Wash the rice another 4 times by filling and emptying the bowl.

Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Measure the volume of the rice and cover with 110% water.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 17 minutes. Leave to stand for 17 minutes more.

Empty the rice out into a tray or shallow dish, let it steam off for ten minutes, until it reaches 50 C (if you add sushi vinegar to very hot rice the grains will collapse).

Sprinkle 65ml sushi vinegar over the rice, mix it in by making diagonal slashes with a spatula. It is now ready to use (store at room temperature for up to 4 hours). Don’t refrigerate.