How to eat Japanese fermented soy beans (Nattō)
Sunday, 9. March 2008, 17:25:39
How to eat Japanese fermented soy beans (Nattō)
If you have Japanese friends, probably you have heard about Nattō.
It is fermented soy beans that one part of the Japanese people love so much that they cannot live without. And the other part, however, hates it. It is popular food in eastern part of Japan, but less so in the western part.
The reason of this deep divide is mainly the small of Nattō. As all the fermented foods, Nattō has a very particular and strong smell which is, if you are not used to it, a bad odour. Some say that the Chinese black beans are smelly, but there is no comparison with Nattō.
Also the non-Japanese people find this food disgusting. For foreigners, the problem is not only the smell, but also its sliminess. The Japanese people in general love slimy foods, but it is not the case for other nations. I have met only a couple of non-Japanese who said they like these fermented soy beans.
I heard that the Indonesians have something similar called "tempe", but they cook in a way that it does not smell as much as its Japanese cousin.
As I belong to the group that love Nattō, I enjoy enjoy eating it. Fortunately in Birmingham, we can find frozen Nattō in Chinese or Korean grocery stores. It costs three times more expensive than in Japan, but, I won't complain as it is probably brought frozen by air cargo (but it makes me feel guilty of carbon foot printing).
This is a packet of Nattō. I paid £1.40.
This packet contains 4 small containers of Nattō, as you see below. In a container, there are also a small packet of soy sauce based sauce and another of mustard.
I eat Nattō with raw egg. I put also some Japanese seven flavour chili. The white thing beneath is steamed rice.
And mix mix mix. Then I get this.
It is almost soupy because I did not put much rice, but normally there is more rice and it looks more dry. The mixture of Nattō odour and raw egg smell is almost obscene. It is sooooo good.
I would not recommend this to anybody, as it is not for feint hearted, but if you happen to be lover of smelly food, this is the one for you.
If you have Japanese friends, probably you have heard about Nattō.
It is fermented soy beans that one part of the Japanese people love so much that they cannot live without. And the other part, however, hates it. It is popular food in eastern part of Japan, but less so in the western part.
The reason of this deep divide is mainly the small of Nattō. As all the fermented foods, Nattō has a very particular and strong smell which is, if you are not used to it, a bad odour. Some say that the Chinese black beans are smelly, but there is no comparison with Nattō.
Also the non-Japanese people find this food disgusting. For foreigners, the problem is not only the smell, but also its sliminess. The Japanese people in general love slimy foods, but it is not the case for other nations. I have met only a couple of non-Japanese who said they like these fermented soy beans.
I heard that the Indonesians have something similar called "tempe", but they cook in a way that it does not smell as much as its Japanese cousin.
As I belong to the group that love Nattō, I enjoy enjoy eating it. Fortunately in Birmingham, we can find frozen Nattō in Chinese or Korean grocery stores. It costs three times more expensive than in Japan, but, I won't complain as it is probably brought frozen by air cargo (but it makes me feel guilty of carbon foot printing).
This is a packet of Nattō. I paid £1.40.
This packet contains 4 small containers of Nattō, as you see below. In a container, there are also a small packet of soy sauce based sauce and another of mustard.
I eat Nattō with raw egg. I put also some Japanese seven flavour chili. The white thing beneath is steamed rice.
And mix mix mix. Then I get this.
It is almost soupy because I did not put much rice, but normally there is more rice and it looks more dry. The mixture of Nattō odour and raw egg smell is almost obscene. It is sooooo good.
I would not recommend this to anybody, as it is not for feint hearted, but if you happen to be lover of smelly food, this is the one for you.
WIDGETIZE
fbaggins # 10. March 2008, 00:43
I love durian, so I guess I fall in that category?
You don't need to cook the soy beans first? Just straight away eat with rice and egg?
tabatakayoko # 12. March 2008, 18:18
I am not sure if you like natto, as you said you are not big fan of tempe. They are cousins.
To make natto, the soy beans are first boiled soft, then given spray of natto germs, and left for some days so that they ferment. We don't need to cook them; we can eat it strait from the fridge. This is another good thing about natto.
fbaggins # 20. March 2008, 07:43
Aww.. so natto and tempe are cousins? Well that made me think again about natto..
So it's a few days process, not that long then. Since it can be eaten straight away like that, it's a fast meal to have then
Talking about fermented food makes me remember Tapai..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapai
Do you know it? My mother and sister love it.
tabatakayoko # 28. March 2008, 17:30
Yup, it is a very quick thing to prepare; some Japanese eat it for breakfast, as it is so quick.
And about Tapai, no, I have never heard about it and I cannot even imagine how it tastes like. However, the wiki article made me think of a fermented Japanese drink made from rice. It is a very primitive form of Japanese sake, and its colour is white, and tastes sweet. I don't like it in particular, to be honest.
The Japanese use fermented rice also to "cook" fish. Pushing fermented rice (or before fermentation - I am not sure) into the cavity of fish, or laying in between fish fillet, we make fermented fish. This I like very much.
fbaggins # 1. April 2008, 11:36
Hmm.. I cannot describe Tapai taste to you, as I don't like it but people do comment that it's sweet, just like you said the fermented Japanese rice drink. If you don't like it, I think you wouldn't like Tapai too.
Pushing fermented rice between fish fillet? Hmm.. now you make me remember this one food serie that I watched. I don't remember if it was from Japan or Korea but they make fermented fish similar like you described. In this wood barrel. They push everything together tightly and close the lid. Is it like that?
Anonymous # 4. April 2008, 08:35
How do you prepare the frozen Natto? Is it heated up in some way or just defrosted?
tabatakayoko # 8. April 2008, 17:09
Well, even so, I must try Tapai; I will do so when I find it.
The fermented fish is made as you say, but there are variouus kinds of it, and I guess you saw one of them. They are prepared with salt, so it tastes sweet-sour-salty. My impression is that they are usually made in cooler regions of Japan (obviously, now, refridgerator is enough to set the ambience right).
tabatakayoko # 8. April 2008, 17:11
You should not heat the frozen natto; just defrost it naturally either in fridge or in room temperature (in the latter case, it does not keep long, so eat it soon).
fbaggins # 9. April 2008, 00:57
Do tell if you like Tapai when you get to try it
So that was one of the way of making fermented fish then. Is there any specific fish to be used? Or any kind would be ok?
tabatakayoko # 14. April 2008, 16:15
I don't possibly know all the fish that can be used for fermentation, and even if I give you Japanese names of fish, it would not make much sense
That said, the fish used for fermentation tend to be blue or blue-ish fish. I guess you can use any fish, but the result is not always good, I suppose.
fbaggins # 16. April 2008, 01:37
Ahh.. yea, I totally understand. I once debated with a friend of which fish is best to be used in this one Malay dish. I said Ikan ( fish ) Kayu and she said nope, it's Ikan Aye. After a while we get to know that Ikan Kayu and Ikan Aye is the same fish!
It's blue-ish fish then. And yea, you are right, the taste would be effected a bit I guess.
Anonymous # 24. April 2008, 18:38
Thanks for the info about frozen natto - just had some with spring onions on rice - very nice.
tabatakayoko # 11. May 2008, 11:08
Indeed.
Hello Anonymous,
From the way you wrote, you are not Japanese, aren't you? Well, then, many compliments for having tried it and liked it even! There are many who don't like it even among the Japanese people (especially those from the West).
Anonymous # 8. December 2008, 16:24
same here
i had some natto beans in japan a month ago
loved it
and saw it frozen and was puzzled about how to eat it!
tabatakayoko # 24. December 2008, 20:25
Actually the frozen natto is the most convenient thing in the world! Ready to eat when defrosted.
Anonymous # 10. August 2009, 00:42
Thanks for the post. I just moved close to Japantown in San Francisco and have been wandering the markets. Most of the stuff is labeled in Japanese so I just look for what seems to be low in stock as an indicator of what is popular. That has worked so far in trying new things. According to the picture I could eat in on rice so I tried it. When I did it was sooo not to my tastebuds. I was looking online to see if it just needed to be prepared differently and nope. Its just not for me. Unless you have other ways to prepare it? Maybe?
Anonymous # 11. November 2009, 20:57
I lived in Japan years ago & have a Japanese wife, I love natto and make it myself. I culture my cooked soy beans with prepared natto and keep them in a warm place for a few days, it always makes a tasty product. If you go to http://www.gaia21.net/natto/natto.htm you will learn how easy it is to make your self.