To start, gather all your ingredients along with a wooden bowl and a wooden paddle if you have them. If not, just make due with what you have.

Ingredients:
2 cups short grain white rice
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons sake or dry white wine
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
(You can also substitute “seasoned rice vinegar” for the above mixture — 2 tablespoons per cup of rice.)

Instructions:
First you must clean your rice before you cook it. Put the uncooked rice in a bowl and wash it in several changes of water until the water becomes clear, stirring gently by hand. Drain rice in a sieve for approximately 1 hour. The rice is not considered “sushi rice” until it is cooked and seasoned.

Combine the rinsed rice, water and sake (or dry white wine) in a pot, cover, and bring to boil on medium to high heat. Reduce heat to very low and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let the pot sit, covered, for another 15 minutes.

Mix the cooked rice with a folding motion to make it fluffy. Insert a dry teatowel under the lid to absorb excess moisture.

Transfer rice to a large shallow container. A wooden bowl works great for making sushi rice.

Mix the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt together thoroughly and pour on the rice all at once.

Mix quickly and gently with a wet wooden spatula while fanning the rice to cool it quickly.

Cover container with a damp tea towel until use but do not refrigerate. Use while the rice is as freshly cooked as possible.

To make sushi, wait for the rice to get to room temperature and make small rectangles of rice about 1″ high by 2″ long. Top the sushi rice with a thin smear of wasabi paste (optional) and a thinly sliced piece of your favorite sushi quality fish or other topping. Enjoy!