Natto

New arrivals in Japan are soon introduced to natto. It’s presented as a culinary challenge, as in “Can you eat natto?” rather than “Do you enjoy eating natto?”

So what is natto, and why is it lumped with “only for the brave” foods like fish guts or boiled silkworm grubs?

Natto is simply fermented soybeans. Fermentation has a long history in Japan, with soy sauce, miso, and sake being some of the better-known and more widely appreciated examples. These staples have a pleasant fermented smell, like rising bread or mild cheese, while natto is notoriously pungent.

Natto is also mucilaginous. When stirred, natto quickly gives off long gooey strings. When eaten, the strings stretch a long way before breaking off as wispy threads that float in the air. To keep from getting sticky slime all over mouth and chin, the diner must perform quick pulling and spinning motions with their chopsticks to draw out and wrap these strands.

Between the smell and the texture, a large minority of Japanese refuse to eat natto. Since it’s relatively cheap and quite nutritious, more than a few people eat it even though they don’t like it. Regardless of their own preferences, many natives delight in putting it before foreigners and seeing how they react.

My wife’s family eats natto regularly, and our children gobble it up. When the kids are short on time for a meal, they don’t think “peanut butter sandwich,” they think “natto gohan.” So I have grown accustomed to eating natto, and have a sneaking suspicion that over the years natto makers have come up with new strains of bacteria, because store-bought varieties no longer have that characteristic smell of unwashed gym socks.

Unless you make natto at home, invariably it comes in a single-serving styrofoam dish, together with a big packet of sweet, salty sauce and little packet of sharp mustard. I don’t much care for either, so I started playing around with other flavors. My in-laws think I’m strange, but my kids have followed my lead.

My first variation was an effort to cut back on excess salt. My next idea was to look outside Japanese cuisine for flavors that complement beans.

Natto Gyunyu 1 packet natto 1 - 2 T whole milk

Open natto packet. Remove sauce packets and pull off plastic film. Dribble in whole milk until the beans are barely covered. Stir carefully to keep from spilling until milk has been incorporated into natto. Eat as side dish or empty contents over a bowl of rice. North African Natto 1 packet natto 2 t olive oil 1 t ground sesame 1/8 t salt 1/8 t black pepper 1/8 t cumin

Optional: red pepper, crushed garlic, chopped almonds or walnuts

Open natto packet. Remove sauce packets and pull off plastic film. Sprinkle with salt and spices (to taste). Top with sesame seeds and drizzle with olive oil. Stir and enjoy as side dish, or even as a stand-alone snack.

Other bean dishes

Around the world rice and beans are staples that go well together: they are cheap, nutritious, and easy to store. While African or Latin American dishes feature beans right there next to the rice, Japanese cuisine tends to disguise the beans. Most commonly the beans are served as tofu and miso soup. Edamame have become a bar snack around the world, and they are nothing more than fresh soybeans. Beans are also turned into condiments, with soy sauce being the most recognized. Adzuki beans are pureed and mixed with sugar to make anko, or bean jam, which is often tucked into a sweetened rice dumpling and served as a dessert. Soy beans toasted and ground into powder are called kinako, and commonly used to coat sticky dumplings.

Beans are a big part of New Year’s celebrations. Osechi dishes usually include black beans served whole. Mochi (pounded rice dumplings) are often rolled in kinako, or topped with anko, natto, or even crushed edamame.

Speaking for myself, beans are suited for savoury dishes, not sweet. Like many westerners, I find anko cloying. To be fair, in the American repertoire baked beans and peanut butter are sweetened, but I prefer the former with no more than a hint of molasses and the latter without any additives at all. So what to do with all the sweet beans but make them savoury? When we make mochi on the farm, I have a few the traditional way, and then I break out the spices.

Mexican Mochi North African Mochi 1 T corn oil 1 T olive oil 3 T beans (kinako, edamame, or natto) 3 T beans (kinako, edamame, or natto) 1 dried tomato, minced 2 T sesame seeds 1 clove garlic 1 clove garlic 1/2 t whole black peppercorns 1/2 t whole black peppercorns 1/2 t whole cumin seeds 1/2 t whole cumin seeds 1/2 t dry oregano leaves dash of soy sauce (or 1/4 t salt) dash of soy sauce (or 1/4 t salt) dash of cayenne pepper

Grind spices in mortar. Crush in garlic and beans with kother dry ingredients. Add soy sauce or salt and drizzle in oil. Stir in fresh mochi one at a time and toss to coat. Eat and repeat.

Maple Walnut Mochi 1/2 C walnuts 2 T maple syrup 1/4 t cinnamon 1/8 t nutmeg

Of course walnuts are’t beans, but they are used as a mochi condiment: ground into paste, thinned slightly with water, and sweetened with sugar. This variation simply brings a classic American flavor combination to the table.

Grind walnuts in mortar. Stir in spices. Drizzle in maple syrup. Stir in fresh mochi one at a time and toss to coat. Eat and repeat.

by Darryl Magree Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved. Readers are encouraged to try these recipes, but reproduction or distribution of the text by electronic or other means is prohibited without the express consent of the author.