Can whole grain rice be used for sushi?

Futomaki
In Denmark and the rest of the world, sushi is made with white short-grain sushi rice.

I do get questions about brown rice and whether it can be used to make tasty sushi.

White rice

In Denmark, sushi is most often made with white sushi rice. There are several advantages to making sushi with white sushi rice.

The advantages of using white sushi rice are that the individual grains of rice have a smooth surface, which in terms of taste fits perfectly with silky slices of fish. Once the rice is  cooked, it is mixed with the vinegar marinade, which makes the individual grains of rice stick to each other.  That is crucial when making sushi by hand.

Whole grain rice

In Denmark, there are a few sushi restaurants that have experimented with whole grain rice. There are some advantages to making sushi with whole grain rice.

The advantages of using whole grain rice are that they are healthier. They contain more vitamins and minerals than white sushi rice.
Whole grain rice is far more difficult to cook to perfection. The cooked rice is a harder and looser texture, they do not stick together like white sushi rice. This makes it more difficult to make different kinds of sushi, because the individual pieces of sushi tend to fall apart.

Whole grain rice has a slightly dominant nutty taste, which can drown the taste of, for example, salmon or cucumber.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using whole grain rice.  I know for sure that I will continue to make sushi with white sushi rice.

On the Sushi course for beginners, you will learn the secret behind perfectly cooked white sushi rice. You will learn step by step how to make tasty sushi with the most popular fish for sushi.

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Have you made sushi with black rice?

Zoë EsccherIt is a question I sometimes get on my sushi classes.

Black rice is whole-grain rice that is healthier than white rice. Black rice contains several vitamins and minerals. I have never used black rice and I am not going to. There are several reasons for that.

Black rice is much harder to cook than white rice. Nor do they have the same consistency as cooked white rice. Rice plays the main role in sushi if the rice is not cooked properly it affects the dining experience.

The disadvantage of black rice is that it is harder to see if the rice is dirty. Of course you can wash the rice but you can never be sure that there is no hiding somewhere in the rice.

There is sushi a dish where I can adjust the amount of white rice when I make sushi. I can just choose to use less rice thus becoming sushi automatically healthier.

Please read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.