THE ART OF COOKING RICE

• Make sure that you have the right rice for sushi, because it has the greatest impact on the flavour of food. Sushi rice has thick, round and slightly transparent grains that guarantee a very good flavour of sushi.
• One of the most important steps in preparing rice for sushi is rinsing it. The grains are covered with starch – if we don’t rinse it well, the rice will be too sticky and making sushi will be difficult. Rinse until the water is slightly transparent (it can’t be 100% clear) – i.e. 2-3 times.
• When preparing rice for sushi, you can follow the „finger rule”. After rinsing rice, pour it into a pot and smooth its surface to make it even. Then put a finger into the pot – its tip should touch the surface of the rice. Add enough water to make it reach 1/3 if the finger, i.e. the first joint.
• Seasoned vinegar – sushi su – is as important as the rice itself. It adds flavour and facilitates the precise combination of grains. When you add seasoned vinegar, blend it gently. Too rapid movements will turn the rice into mush and spoil the texture of sushi. After adding sushi su, cover the rice with a piece of gauze to protect it from drying. Use it on the same day (you can store it for 3-4 hours at room temperature).
• Preparing sushi rice in 3 steps: serving size of 500g
  Step 1: rinse the rice in a big bowl (2-3 times) until the water is almost clear.
  Step 2: place the rice and 600ml of water into a pot with matching lid. Boil the rice of high heat and then reduce the heat to a minimum and boil for another 10 minutes. Finally, turn the heat off and leave for 10 minutes with the lid on.
  Step 3: Add 4 tbsp. of Blue Dragon sushi su to the rice.
• If you want to make sweet sushi, e.g. with fruit or chocolate, you need to cook the rice in the following manner:
  Serving size of 500g
  Step 1: rinse the rice in a big bowl a few times (2-3) until the water is almost clear. Put the rice, 600 ml of water and 200 ml of Blue Dragon coconut milk in a pot with a matching lid. Boil the rice on high heat and then reduce the heat to a minimum and boil for another 10 minutes. Finally, turn the heat off and leave for 10 minutes with the lid on.
  Step 2: Boil extra 200ml of coconut milk in a small pot, add 80g of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and boil until thick.
  Step 3: Pour the boiled rice in a big bowl and add thickened coconut milk (from Step 2). Stir gently and leave for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• It is important not to put hot, warm rice on nori leaves – always cool it. Otherwise, nori will become gummy since it absorbs water from the rice.
• To make reversed sushi, spread cling film on a bamboo mat. This way, rice will not stick to nori leaf when you reverse it.