- Take a 24 ounce bottle of Mitsukan Rice Vinegar, carefully pry off the lid, and empty the bottle into a small glass or teflon pot (don’t use a metal pot because it gives the vinegar an odd taste). You can use other brands, but be sure to read the ingredients list. If you start seeing chemicals, salt, sugar or anything else, find another brand.
- Add 1 1/8 C sugar and 2 T kosher salt.
- Warm and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon until all the salt and sugar has dissolved, then immediately remove from heat. You shouldn’t need to heat it to more than warm bath-water temperature.
- Pour the seasoned vinegar back into the bottle, label it as sushi vinegar, and put in the refrigerator. It will keep for a long time. I’ve used mine over six
months later, and it was still very good.
Note that because this recipe calls for adding the salt and sugar to the contents of a full bottle of vinegar, it won’t all fit back in the original bottle when mixed, so you’ll need another container to hold a little (or you could use it to make the rice that’s coming up next 8-))
This recipe makes enough seasoned vinegar for somewhere around 100 cups of cooked rice (depending on your taste)
Making the vinegar isn’t a big job, but doing it in a batch means that you don’t have to do it every time you make sushi.