Sushi rice vinegar proportions
So i'm trying to make sushi rice and i know the essential component is the vinegar/sugar/salt mixture (with the optional kombu, which i don't have access to, so i omit entirely). I would like to hear your opinions on the ratios of the vinegar to sugar to salt. I have seen several but have not chosen my favourite yet. Also does anyone know for certain if salt is added to make the overall flavour sort of bitter-sweet, or... ?
On a related note: how important is the fanning of the rice? I mean, come on, to me sitting besides the rice and fanning with a giant palm leaf to fend off the excess moisture from your rice-pharaoh just seems utteryl ridiculous. In cooking there always have been supposedly imporatnt fancy techniques that are considered essential by every blogger, ever, yet in reality have little to no impact on the quality of the dish.
Best Answer
I did an online search for the first 10 sushi rice recipes with distinct ingredient proportions and came up with the following ratio (by weight):
1:0.08:0.16:0.02 (Raw Rice:Sugar:Vinegar:Salt)
With cooked rice,
1:0.03:0.06:0.01 (Cooked Rice:Sugar:Vinegar:Salt)
Or, if you prefer:
For 1300g / ~6 cups Sushi Rice
400g or 2 cups of raw sushi rice (about 1200g or 6 cups of cooked rice)
32g or 3 tbsp white granulated sugar
63g or 4 tbsp vinegar
7g or 1tsp salt
I've not tried these proportions yet but I usually find that a simple average of 10 to 20 distinct recipe proportions gives me a good starting point for experimentation. At the very least averaging helps avoid nasty surprises like the saltylicious recipe of Alton Brown I linked to in my comment above.
Another answer here suggests a Salt:Sugar:Vinegar ratio of 1:2:2, whereas my figures suggest something closer to 1:5:9 if we are talking weight ratios (the other answer doesn't specify).
You asked whether salt would help give the rice a bitter sweet taste. In my experience sushi rice has no obvious bitter taste, but it does have a sweet-sour flavor that the vinegar and sugar lends. Salt helps other flavors play nicely with each other and at the same time adds a delicate flavor bass note of its own.
In my opinion you are unlikely to find a favorite recipe by adjusting the proportions alone. There are preparation techniques to play with, varieties of rice and types of vinegar. Many sushi rice recipes feature mirin, sake, kombu or dashi in the list of ingredients. Experimenting with any of these things will likely necessitate altering the ingredient proportions from what I give here.
Pictures about "Sushi rice vinegar proportions"
What is the ratio of sushi vinegar to rice?
Optional: Homemade Sushi Vinegar (for 3 Rice Cooker Cups)How do you make sushi rice with vinegar?
Once the rice is cooked, add it to a large bowl. While the rice is cooling, add 1tbsp of powdered sushi vinegar for every 300g of rice. Fold the vinegar in until the rice has fully cooled. Your rice is now ready to make sushi!Is rice vinegar necessary for sushi?
Many sushi chefs prefer to use sushi or rice vinegar to prepare their sushi rice, but you don't have to use that particular vinegar as we've discovered today. Most other types of vinegar, or using ingredients containing acidities like white wine, lemon, or lime juice, offer a similar taste.How do you use Japanese rice vinegar?
Rice vinegar is used in salad dressings and sauces as a flavour balancer, in sushi rice as a seasoning, in pickles as the primary pickling agent, and in marinades for meat and seafood as an odour eliminator and tenderiser.How To Cook Sushi Rice \u0026 Prepare Sushi Rice Vinegar
More answers regarding sushi rice vinegar proportions
Answer 2
I hover around what I think is 1:2:2 with Salt:Sugar:Rice Vinegar. Use enough so that you can coat all of your rice, but not drench it.
Before cooking, rinse the rice. I believe this removes excess starch from the rice. Skipping it makes my rice sad. After cooking you fan it while folding in the sushi vinegar mixture. I believe this cools it without drying it out and gets a thin coat of the mixture evenly distributed over the rice. Skipping it makes my rice sad.
Remember that you don't make good sushi with sub-par ingredients.
Answer 3
Measured by volume: 7 rice vinegar, 5 sugar, 2 sea salt (or 1 table salt). Add a piece of kelp if you plan to age it. It is best aged for at least two weeks. If you need to use right away, skip the kelp and melt the ingredients in a hot pan, then cut the heat immediately to avoid cooking out the vinegar's acidity. The vinegar should be measured at 15% of uncooked rice by volume.
This is based on Sushi Chef Institute's recipe.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: ROMAN ODINTSOV, Farhad Ibrahimzade, Pixabay, Pixabay