First, you pour two cups of Japanese short grain rice in a stainless steel bowl.
The reason you’re using this variety is that it’s the kind used for sushi. This is the standard.
Setting Up The Instant Pot
You set the bowl down on the counter. Next, you must wash the rice very well. Dry grains often has dust and starch clinging to them.
You turn the faucet to cold and swirl the rice around with your hand. Immediately the water goes cloudy. You dump out that cloudy water. Rinse it again. Rinse the rice until the water coming off are mostly clear.
It’s a process that takes multiple round.
Then you rinse the grains to remove any extra starch. Rinse, rinse and rinse some more (until the runoff water is clear). The rice will be clean, and your hands might be chilly in the process.
Drain the bowl completely. Toss the rinsed rice back inside the Instant Pot’s inner pot. Put that pot on its base.
Measure out your water. Use a firm 1:1 water-to-rice ratio. For example, if there are two cups of rice, then there should of be two cups of water. No less. No more. Texture depends based off this ratio. Pour the water onto the rice.
Grains sink to the bottom
Then you close the lid on your pressure cooker. It clicks shut and you know it’s locked. Then you look at the steam release valve. You flip it to the sealing setting. That seals in the pressure.
You push the rice button. The display panel lights up. You tap in the number of minutes; twelve. And then you select low pressure cooking for today.
Now the pot starts to build pressure. You watch as the red numerals tick away. Minutes goes by fast.
When finished, the pot beeps.
Cooking time’s over.
Now what do you do? Release the pressure. There are two option. Let it fall on its own, or vent it yourself.
Okay, you’re going with venting. Move that valve and let it go. A flow of steam bursts from the nozzle. Let it hiss. Wait till the pin falls. Ahhh. The pressure is released.
Unlock the lid. Slowly pull it off. Steam billows up in the kitchen. Inside the pot is the rice. It is white. It is fluffy. Stir it quickly. Each grain separated.
But they’re not at all mushy.
Rinse and repeat the process.
Transfer the cooked rice into a serving bowl. How much did you get? Do you think it’s enough? You fill up a medium-sized white bowl. It’s the right amount. You started with two cups of dry rice, and that’s what you’ve got. It is perfect for sushi rolls.
Taste-test a bit. Hmm…sticky, yet still firm. Yeah, that’s the good stuff. The 1:1 ratio works great. No adjustments necessary. Easy peasy.
Compared to doing it on the stove, you saved yourself some time here. The Instant Pot distributes the heat evenly. You don’t have to hover over it. Just set it and forget it. It makes life so easy. It is reliable. It is consistent.
So you do it again. And again. No guessing games here. Measure, wash, cook, that’s all there is to it. And boy, are you glad. Because the rice turn out great. Worth every minute of your time. It is naturaly moddern. You should of tried this sooner. The texture is better then stove cooked rice. The rice dissapears fast. You can absorbs the flavor better. It feels more comfortabley to cook this way. It is a luxurius treat. You should of used more water if you want it wetter. It is actualy easy.