How to Cook Sushi Rice in a rice cooker (15 easy Steps)

Many rice dishes have the reputation of having global fame and popularity, but the most popular rice recipe known around the world and loved by everyone remains the traditional Japanese cuisine called “sushi” which is made from sweet and sour boiled short grained white rice served with seafood or vegetables. Consider yourself lucky as today you will learn an easy to the point recipe for how to cook sushi rice in a rice cooker within no time.

Things that are required to make sushi in a rice cooker:

• Medium or short-grain rice (3 Rice cooker Cups)
• Rice Cooker
• Rice vinegar (1/4 cups)
• Sheets of Nori (i.e., layers of seaweed found at the Asian department of local stores)
• Pickled Daikon radish (also found easily at Asian department of local stores)
• Fresh Cucumber
• Water (3 cups)
• Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Sugar (1 tablespoon)

Steps for How to Cook Sushi Rice in a Rice Cooker:

1. First, you need to wash and rinse the sushi rice thoroughly and keep them soaked in water for at least 30 minutes before putting in the rice cooker.
2. Add 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sushi rice, and 1 tablespoon of salt in the rice cooker and let it cook for 25 minutes by selecting the white rice option or the sushi option if your rice cooker has it.
3. After 25 minutes when the rice has absorbed most of the water, check the sushi rice for softness and fluffiness.
4. Then strain the excess water and pour out the boiled rice in a bowl. Gently spread the rice with a spatula so that the rice cools down and each grain of rice stands out.
5. Now when the rice has cooled down, pour 1/4 cup of rice vinegar ( which is mostly vinegar, sugar, and salt ) and mix the rice carefully not to break them.
6. Mix it well by turning and folding gently.
7. When rice gets cool at room temperature, cover the bowl with a damp towel.
8. Don’t refrigerate sushi rice.
9. Now get the sheets of nori (seaweed) and set a sushi mat ( that is used to wrap the rice with seaweed sheet and give sushi its cylindrical shape). 
10. Nori sheets have two sides. Bright and dull one. Carefully set the nori sheet on the mat so that when you roll it up, the shiny side comes up.
11. To stop the sushi rice sticking to your hands, dip your hands in water. Then take a cup of rice from a sushi bowl and set it on the nori using your fingers gently push the rice to cover the nori.
12. Now fill-up the ingredients ( cucumber and pickled daikon radish) across the middle of the rice and don’t use too much filling.
13. Use the mat as support, lift the edge up and over the filling and rice. Now tuck the cloth tightly into a roll. Squeeze the mat and gently shape the rice and fillings into a roll.
14. Now slice the sushi and cut them into three segments.
15. Serve the sushi with soy sauce.

Nutrition Facts In Sushi:

Amount per serving

Cook Time: 25 – 30 minutes.

What is Sushi?

Most people think that sushi means raw fish. Is it true? Nope. That is actually ” Sashimi” which is made up entirely of fresh fish. Then you may wonder, what is sushi? Sushi is a process of preparing and presenting rice in rice vinegar, sugar, and salt.

You cannot make Sushi without Rice, but you can have a sushi dish without fish. There are numerous alterations and techniques of preparing the sushi depending on chefs liking and the taste they aim to achieve.

But the traditional and basic recipe is simple and straightforward, it’s a combination of slightly sweet and sticky rice made with sweet vinegar served with different varieties of sauces accompanied with fish or vegetables.

Most frequently asked questions about sushi rice

Do you need to rinse sushi rice?

You need to look on the packet of your sushi rice if its already rinsed or advise not to rinse it then you do not need to rinse it. But if there are no instructions then you have to rinse it thoroughly. It will remove bugs, dust, dirt, rocks and also extra starch, and make sushi rice fluffy and less sticky.

What kind of rice do you use for sushi?

You can use over the counter regular polished white rice that is readily available in local stores, but rice must be short-grained, and if you want to go old school and cook like a professional, you can use Japanese Rice, which is called Calrose Rice or famously known as Nishiki.

Can you use white vinegar for cooking sushi rice?

Well, to put it in simple words you SHOULDN’T use white vinegar at all as it is much more concentrated and hard, and rice and white vinegar do not go well and you would have to dilute it and even then it won’t give you the unique and delicate flavor for which sushi rice is known for its sweet and sour flavor.

So you need Sushi vinegar or Japanese rice vinegar, but if you are unable to find these at your local stores then you can use rice vinegar, by adding the rice vinegar in a pan over low heat and then add and mix sugar and salt using a spatula , do not overcook as you only have to mix till all the granules of salt and sugar dissolve into white vinegar.