easy sushi rice balls with balsamic vinegar recipe (ada Bahasa Indonesia juga)

What is sushi rice? It is vinegared rice used to make sushi. We remembered: once we were told, at an Asian restaurant that we managed to find open at a late winter night in Paris, that they were running out of steamed rice. "Would you mind if we use sushi rice instead?" Being hungry, we quickly nodded and accepted the offer. It turned out to be a very delicious meal - a meal to remember.

The choice of vinegar matters. Normally, rice vinegar is used to make sushi rice. Japanese rice vinegar normally contains ~5% acetic acid. For today's sushi rice balls, I used balsamic vinegar of Modena (Leonardi brand) with 6% acidity.



Do you love adventures? Sushi that we love has probably traveled from southern China to Japan - a country symbolized by sushi, in accordance to Marc Matsumoto.

In preparing our meals in simple and easy ways, we can be adventurous too. Perhaps, sushi rice can go with other not-so-common sushi ingredients.

Recently, baby Ren's Godmother introduced us to Nestle Cheerios cereals. Both ouf us love them. Besides eating them as a snack, with oatmeal, how else can we enjoy them?




Soft sushi rice can go well with crunchy cereals. Serve with goldfish made of cherry tomatoes and kids will like them!



Serving: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes (depends on your rice cooker)

Ingredients:
♥ 1 rice cooker cup (newly harvested, if possible) rice grains
♥ 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
♥ 1 tbsp honey
♥ 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Rinse and gently rub rice grains (using sieve, if possible) to remove dirt. If you have extra time, soak washed rice for 30 minutes before cooking for fluffier texture.
2. Cook rice using rice cooker using rice:water ratio of 1:1.5 (normally, I will use 1:2 ratio for steamed rice).
3. Meanwhile, mix balsamic vinegar, honey, salt in a small bowl.
4. While the cooked rice is hot, add vinegar mixture over the rice (in a wooden container, if possible). Gently toss without destroying delicate grains of rice*.
5. Make into balls. I prefer to use thoroughly washed bare hands. Wet hands can minimize sushi rice get stuck on our hands.
6. Garnish sushi rice balls with cheese, cilantro, cereals, sesame seeds (optional).


* It is okay if you break some grains, so do I. We are learning, and even great sushi chefs practice over 10,000 hours to retain the original shapes of each grain of rice. 


  
Other recipes that I love:
♥ Marc Matsumoto's sushi rice at No Recipes
♥ Namiko Chen's sushi rice at Just One Cookbook
♥ Issendai's how to cook Japanese rice

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.



Brief ingredients and Directions in Bahasa Indonesia:
♥ 1 gelas (ukuran rice cooker) beras baru panen
♥ 1 sdm cuka
♥ 1 sdm madu
♥ 1/4 sdt garam

1. Bilas butiran beras dengan saringan untuk menghilangkan kotoran. Jika anda memiliki waktu ekstra, rendam beras  selama 30 menit sebelum dimasak supaya teksturnya pulen.
2. Masak nasi menggunakan rice cooker dengan perbandingan beras:air 1:1,5 (biasanya, saya akan menggunakan perbandingan 1:2 untuk nasi putih).
3. Sementara itu, campur cuka, madu, garam dalam mangkuk kecil.
4. Ketika nasi masih panas, tambahkan campuran cuka ke dalam nasi (dalam wadah kayu, jika ada). Aduk secara lembut tapi cepat tanpa merusak butiran beras.
5. Buat bola nasi sushi dengan tangan bersih. Basahkan tangan sedikit supaya nasi sushi tidak lengket di telapak tangan.
6. Hias nasi sushi dengan keju, ketumbar, sereal, biji wijen.



With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140222