What is sushi rice called in japanese. This edo period dish is better translated as sour rice due to the vinegared rice called sushimeshi. Popular varieties are kokuho rose and nishiki both of which can be picked up in almost any large chain american supermarket today. Sushi rice is what makes sushi sushi the topppings and things mixed in are almost secondary.
While sushi is often raw fresh fish it isnt always. Perfect sushi starts with perfect rice which is the basis of sushi. Use short or medium grain rice.
There is a variety of rice called calrose which was developed in 1948 and is a medium grain rice which has been grown by japanese american producers in california for many years. In japanese sushi rice is called sushimeshi. Similar to temaki sushi maki sushi makizushi is rolled with the seaweed on the outside with rice inside and fish in the middle.
Sushi pronounced si or si is a japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice sushi meshi usually with some sugar and salt accompanying a variety of ingredients neta such as seafood often raw and vegetables. While not a true japanese rice it is commonly used to prepare japanese cuisine in north america and is a reasonably good to use for sushi. In japan it is known as sumeshi vinegared rice.
Sushi rice is steamed japanese rice that is flavored with vinegar based seasonings and its only used for making sushi. For that you will need a good recipe like this one and some care. Japanese food sushi does not mean raw fish dipped in soy sauce like you probably imagine when you hear the word.
The confusion occurs when sushi rice being used as a label for regular japanese short grain rice outside of japan.