Japanese Sticky Rice

The basic rice for sushi is a short grain rice. With rice the shorter the grain, the starchier it is, and Japanese short grain rice is about the shortest. Alternatively, you can use other short grain rice. I have never tried Arborio (Italian risotto) rice but my guess is that it would probably work okay.

Recommendation: I use the "Blue Dragon" or "Yatuka" Sushi Rice, available in 500g packs in the UK from Waitrose. Alternatively, you can get "Kokuho Rose" rice in large sacks from good oriental food stores. (American but good!)

So, first, put the rice in a sieve, and keep rinsing it under cold water until it runs clear. This gets all the talc and dust off the rice.

I find the best way to cook the rice is in a heavy bottom pan with a well fitting lid on the stove top.

My rule of thumb is to use one and a half cups of water to one cup of dry rice, so measure your rice before you rinse it!

Put the rice and water into the pan,  bring to the boil, stirring gently then turn the heat right down to the lowest possible simmer, put the lid on and leave it, don't be tempted to lift the lid as the trapped steam is what is doing a lot of the work of cooking the rice. Simmer for exactly 10 minutes.

Then, keeping the lid firmly in place, turn-off the heat and leave to stand for a further 10 minutes.

Once you've done this, mix the rice with some sushi-su to the point that it tastes to your liking, then very gently spread the rice out in a large, non-metallic mixing bowl.

Using chopsticks or a fork fluff the rice so it has an "open" texture so air can flow trough the grains, then fan the rice with a board or sheet of card to give a glossy finish to the rice. Fan for about 5 minutes.

You'll have the perfect sushi rice!