Natto Tutorial

[burendasan4]

So last night I finally got around to eating some of the natto that I bought on my Japanese grocery shopping spree. So for intothebluagain's sake (or anyone who is morbidly curious), I've posted some pictures showing how natto is commonly prepared...

For those of you who don't know, natto is the Japanese name for fermented soybeans that the Japanese enjoy often as part of their meals. When I first tasted natto on my first trip to Japan in 2000, I thought it was disgusting and vowed never to eat it again. More than three years later, when I was living in Tokyo, my boyfriend at the time showed me how it's usually prepared and eaten, and as a result, I gained a newfound appreciation for natto...


Natto usually comes in packets of three, as you can see here. When you open one of the packets, this is what you get:



Besides the natto under a protective plastic covering, you get a packet of hot mustard and a soy sauce-like flavoring. Believe me, you're gonna need these...



Pull back the plastic covering and voila! You can see the ooey-gooey mass that is natto. If this LJ could convey smell, you'd be able to get a whiff of that stinkyness too!



Here I am, adding the sauce/flavoring (I forgo the mustard). It makes the sharp, bitter taste of natto a lot more bearable, PLUS:



It makes the ooey-gooey mass of beans less sticky and turns it into more of a unified blob that almost seems to take a life of its own. It also makes it look and taste like someone spit on it.



You'd have to be a pretty brave soul to eat that blob o' fermented soybeans by itself. So if you actually want to eat all this, I suggest mixing it in rice, the ultimate in neutral-tasting food. Being able to eat it with rice was actually the "deal breaker" for me in turning over to the "natto side". ;-)



So you mix the natto in the rice...and there you have it! A simple dish that can serve as a simple meal. It's pretty tasty, once you get used to the bitter flavor. It's definitely an acquired taste!


It had been nearly four years since I last had natto, so needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive about whether I would still like it or not. Well, I had nothing to worry about because I ate the entire bowl of rice. Once I got over the initial...intensity of the taste, I found it quite yummy, even though I had to periodically wipe the stringy goo off my chin with a napkin...

Comments

[intothebluagain.livejournal.com]

Hmm interesting... it does look somewhat like the Indonesian fermented soybeans that pantherofthesun's friend C had us try, altho hers were in a pretty liquid sauce. So do you warm it up or just serve it cold? I'd be willing to give it a try sometime, I guess (despite your best efforts to make it sound unpalatable with terms like "spit" and "unified blob" ;) )

[burendasan4.livejournal.com]

It's served cold but helps if the rice is warm ;-)
I'm glad that I did not totally dissuade you from trying some natto...perhaps I'll bring some to our next get-together ;-)