Before you cook the rice, you need to wash it well. Yes, I mean realy wash it. Sushi rice needs to be rinsed. This grain need it.
Run water through the rice until the water clears and you’re left with just the rice. The excess starch will get washed away making for a better texture.
Why Washing Rice Matters
Put washed rice in the cooker pot. Level the rice out on the bottom to make it easy to measure, and be sure to use a regular measuring cup for accuracy. A good start is one cup of sushi rice (more or less, depending), which keeps the same ratio.
This is where the actual measuring comes into play: For each cup of rice you add a cup of water to it. It’s an equal parts ratio here, adding too much water will make the rice mushy while not enough water will leave your rice hard and dry.
The goal is that the rice should be sticky, but not soupy. After putting the rice and water into the pot, you then close the unit. Make sure the lid clicks shut (it’s important for the pressure).
Then you push the “white rice” button on the control panel. It will start, and you’ll see red dashes on the digital display, and the rest is up to the machine.
A dedicated cycle exists for the white grains. You can set it and forget it, as it is only about forty minutes long and doesn’t require messing around while cooking. When finished, the machine knows and will switch over to keep warm mode.
There’s no guesswork here. When the timer beeps, you open up the box. Lift off the lid and steam wafts out. It’s just plain rice but it looks perfectly cooked and fluffy.
Spoon a pile of that onto your plate. A single cup of uncooked dry rice make for a hearty portion.
It has that great sushi texture. It’s distinct yet stays together well. I didn’t have to check it or stir it. That’s the key… Getting the ratio right.
And that’s all thanks to the Aroma cooker. Sushi rice is actualy something most people overthink. “I’ve got to get this special pot.” Nope, nope, nope. You don’t need any sort of special pot. You just need the correct ratio. All you need is a one-to-one ratio of rice to water.
Maybe you’ve grown tired of messy situations. In the past, your old technique may have been too watery, reducing the rice to mush. The one part per one part solution work perfectly each time.
Rice washing is a no-brainer: it’s not negotiable. There will be no more gluey rice. No, there won’t be any porridge. The cloudy starch needs to come out. It keeps the grain whole; you’ll taste the difference.
A little thing that makes a difference in how the cooking happens is making sure the lid goes on well. You can’t create pressure inside the cooker without closing the lid. Hitting the white rice button puts the red dashes up on the screen. The countdown begins.
While you are off doing something else with your prep work, forty minutes pass in no time at all. It doesn’t feel like long because you aren’t looking at the clock. Then it switches to keep warm automatically, and the “keep warm” function lets it stay fresh. Take out a portion, taste it… it’s good enough to eat.
It’s also less stressful and time consuming. No more watching over a pot on the stove. Set it and forget it. Every time the Aroma cooker deliver uniformly perfect rice. No burnt bottom. No dry patches. Just good rice.
Sushi rice, like all things, is about getting it exactly right. The proportions can’t be eyeballed, which means everything must be carefully measured. The math is simple: 1 cup in, 1 cup out. It may take a little while to get comfortable with the process, but soon enough, you’ll stop second guessing yourself.
Finally, it is versatile. Whether as a side dish or inside a roll of sushi, you can enjoy it. It doesn’t fall apart too easily and the texture is great.
Rice is pretty basic to cook, but cooking rice properly requires a good machine or skill. Technology has removed the chance of human error. Now you don’t need to guess how much water to add, you just measure it. Precision leads to consistency, which leads to good food.
The rice stays warm for hours. You can make it early in the day and eat later on. It doesn’t get hard or cold. That is nice since I’m sure the keep warm function keeps the temp perfect. No reheating needed.
It is a huge plus when you are really busy during the week. You may have a family that loves the sushi rolls you create. Everything starts with the rice, so if your rice isn’t good then neither is your roll. Good rice makes all the difference. Taking a few minutes to measure and wash is well worth the payoff.
Maybe you’ve attempted other moddern models. Perhaps they didn’t work for you. Maybe some brands burned the bottom. Maybe it was too wet.
This one, the Aroma model, is perfect. The unit heats evenly. No dry sides, no hot spots; everything cooks evenly.
The slick black finish complements any decor. It’s not an ugly, bulky appliance. It fits right into your kitchen. And it tucks out of sight when not in use. You do not leave it on the counter. It takes up very little space.
Cooking sushi rice is basic, but doing it right takes skill or a good machine. Learning how to make the rice that’s in all of those rolls you’re making changes your life. No longer do you fear the rice. It isn’t a mystery. It’s a formula. One cup, one cup. Wash and rinse. Cook and then wait. Serve it and eat it.
Great results from simple steps. Good equipment goes a long way. The Aroma cooker is a great rice cooker. It’s sturdy. It is efficient. It can handle the heat.
And the surface inside is easy to keep clean. After rinsing out the pot each time you use it, it’s ready for the next round.
Display is easy to read and understand. At a glance you can see where things stand. Red dashes mean it is working. Green means it’s warm or done. Interface is straight forward. There are no confusing menus. There are just simple buttons for whatever grain you are cooking. Stick to the white rice settings.