Is Brown Sushi Rice Better for You?
In addition to providing greater nutritional value compared to white sushi rice, brown sushi rice has a slightly nutty flavor. I love the extra taste of brown rice.
Is Brown Sushi Rice a Whole Grain?
Brown sushi rice (brown short grain rice) is a whole grain containing natural bran, which provides dietary fiber. Meanwhile, white sushi rice does not contain dietary fiber. For 100 grams of cooked brown short grain rice, there is about 1.8 grams of dietary fiber.
How Many Carbohydrates Are in Brown Sushi Rice?
There are about 20% fewer carbohydrates in brown sushi rice than in white sushi rice. The lower carbohydrate profile also decreases slightly the glycemic index profile of brown rice compared to white rice. Click to read the nutritional value of Brown Sushi Rice.
How Many Calories Are in Brown Sushi Rice?
Cooked brown short grain rice, like you use in brown sushi rice, has about 15% fewer calories than cooked white rice. If you are like me, every savings in calories is a win!
Once you learn how to make brown sushi rice, as described in the recipe below, you will see it is well worth the extra effort. Both from a nutritional and a taste perspective, brown rice raises sushi to a whole new level.
How do you Make Brown Sushi Rice to Replace Ordinary White Sushi Rice?
Tips by Mark Bittman
Mark Bittman’s book How to Cook Everything is one of my go-to references when I begin searching for a recipe. It’s amazing the wonderful variety and depth of choices to be found in this essential book. Mark Bittman often presents a classic recipe, yet will also suggest other ways to make it if you are looking for something different.
The past couple years I’ve followed his method for exchanging brown rice for white rice in recipes. In essence, you bring the water to a boil, pour in the amount of brown rice you want to use, and then turn down the heat so you have a rolling simmer. Continue to cook the brown rice between 10 and 15 minutes before removing it from the heat. I have found that 12 minutes works perfectly for me. You may need to search how much time is good for you. You then remove the pot from the stove and strain the rice. Now you may use this rice as you would use uncooked rice in any white rice recipe.
Steps for Preparing the Brown Rice
The first step described above is basically parboiling the brown rice. You may parboil the rice in advance and keep the rice ready to complete cooking later. As many people don’t like the long time needed to cook brown rice, parboiling it in advance will reduce the amount of time needed when finally preparing your meal.
When you cook the rice in the second step, you can do so in a pot on the stove or in an electric rice cooker. I have followed both methods with equal results. Nothing, however, beats a rice cooker if you are hosting guests and don’t want to think about the exact timing of the rice at the last minute. A rice cooker will keep the rice warm and ready to serve.
I received my rice cooker a couple years ago for Father’s Day. It must be one of the best gifts I’ve received! Ok, I’m easy to please! I’d recommend buying either a rice cooker, like the Hamilton Beach Rice & Hot Cereal Cooker, or an Instant Pot, Multi-Use Programmable Cooker.
In the third step, you’ll need to fan off the hot brown sushi rice to help cool it down while adding the vinegar mixture (sushi-su) described below in the recipe.
In short, compared to white sushi rice, the only extra step needed to make brown sushi rice is the parboiling step described above. And this step takes only about 12 minutes!
How Can You Use Brown Sushi Rice?
As you can imagine, brown sushi rice can be made for any dish in which you would include white sushi rice. For instance, you can make brown rice sushi. My favorite dish using brown sushi rice is a Sushi Bowl (or Chirashi Sushi). I love how each person can create their own sushi-style dish without having to roll anything in seaweed paper. All you need to do is put all the ingredients on the table and let everyone choose the fish and vegetables they like best.
Try making your own brown sushi rice. See for yourself how its extra nutty flavor and added nutritional value are well worth the effort.
Brown Sushi Rice
Ingredients
Short-grain Brown Rice
- 380 g brown rice uncooked
- 750 ml water both in first and second steps
- 1 pinch salt
Vinegar Mixture (sushi-su)
- 4 tsp sugar
- 100 ml rice vinegar
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
Preparing Brown Rice
- Rinse the brown rice in a strainer. Rinse until the water is clear.
- Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt. Add the brown rice. Cover and reduce heat so there's a rolling simmer. Let cook 12 minutes.
- Remove the pot and strain the rice. Let cool off a little but not needed to cool off completely.
- Pour 3 cups into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the parboiled brown rice, stir and cover. Reduce flame to simmer. Let cook 15 minutes. (A couple minutes longer may be needed so look at rice and see if still very wet). Don't overcook it however as you want the rice to be firm.
- Remove the covered pot from heat. Put a thin towel under cover and close cover again. Let the pot sit for another 10 minutes before removing the top and towel. This time allows the rice to cook a little further and for the moisture to evaporate.
- Put the rice in a large glass or ceramic bowl. You want this bowl to be large so you have room to move the rice around without the rice stacking up too much on itself. Let sit a few minutes. Take a flat wooden spoon (preferably with a wide end) and use it to gently fan the rice around. For me the motion I make is similar to incorporating whipped egg whites into a cake batter. Very gently lift bits of the rice before putting the rice back down. This helps the rice cool off without becoming more glutinous or sticking together.
- When the rice is cool, add the vinegar mixture (sushi-su) to the rice using the same wooden spoon and gentle motion. It's not good to add the vinegar to the rice when it's still warm as it will make it harder to make sushi. For sushi bowls this may be less important, yet I'd still advise waiting.
Vinegar Mixture (sushi-su)
- Put the ingredients in a small pot and place over a low flame. Continue heating until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from the flame.
Great recipe, thanks for the help!
Thank YOU, Jordan!
Thanks, Jordan!
Can you put the sugar, vinegar, & salt in the water when you cook the rice?
Hello, it’s better not to add the sugar, vinegar and salt directly when cooking the rice. It’s better to add the cooled mixture to the rice when the rice has had a chance to cool off a bit.