Natto

Akiko · February 26, 2003

Mayonnaise? I've never seen that but that actually appeals to me... spicy natto rolls anyone? If you mixed some thai/vietnamese chili sauce with mayo and put a dollop of that with a dollop of natto in a handroll?

But the kim chie sounds like a horrid combination... although I've recently been put off of kim chie because I had an encounter with some rancid gaktogi as well as kim chie this past weekend.. it almost made me wonder if some people actually like their kim chie that way (came from a pretty reputable korean restaurant)... like actually prefer rancid with their korean pickles? Sort of like game and degrees of highness (is that even the right way to use that word?)

Jinmyo · February 26, 2003

I wonder what it tastes like with hot sauce.

Probably good. Natto is nice with togarashi so why not Tabasco?

Akiko, that's just rotten kimchee. I buy my kimchee in huge bottles. The kimchee guy always points out the freshest ones to me. There's nothing like the effervescence and clean taste of fresh kimchee. It loses this after a week.

Wimpy · February 27, 2003

Here's the way I eat Natto (pretty standard):

cook rice (only Japanese will do for best results and only freshly cooked)

toast sheet of seaweed (same as used for sushi) over gas burner

slice green onion into very fine discs

get bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)

get one fresh, raw egg

get mixing bowl, throw in natto, green onion, one raw egg, and mix vigorously and season with soy sauce and mustard (until nice and frothy) add bonito flakes

put rice in donburi, pour natto mix over rice, shred toasted seaweed with scissors over the whole thing

Heaven!

PS instead of raw egg, you can throw in grated tororo-imo aka yama-imo or chopped up blanched okra

:biggrin:

tissue · February 27, 2003

After reading this thread I went out and bought some natto for lunch. Sure I really grossed out my coworkers when I was eating it with my spicy tuna roll. But you know, can't please everyone. Note: natto and spice go good together. I'm going to try Wimpy's recipe but maybe add a little chopped up anaheim or jalapenos for a kick.

BTW, did you know that they have a brand that is fortified with calcium specifically for women? No I did not buy that one.

Can anyone help me with the differences? I noticed yesterday some are chopped up and some are whole.

torakris · February 27, 2003

Wimpy

that is exactly the same way I make it!

I use only the yolk though and sometimes instead of adding the nori to the top I use small pieces (about 1 by 3 inches) to pick up some of the rice and natto.

Tissue, the chopped up ones are usually for natto maki, the natto and rice rolled in seaweed snack eaten out of hand.

You should see the variety they have in Japan, some come withnan umeboshi sauce instead of the regular tsuyu another one has something like 5 different grains added as well.Then there are the bean differences, anywhere from little tiny brown ones to jumbo black ones.

tissue · February 27, 2003

Tissue, the chopped up ones are usually for natto maki, the natto and rice rolled in seaweed snack eaten out of hand.
You should see the variety they have in Japan, some come withnan umeboshi sauce instead of the regular tsuyu another one has something like 5 different grains added as well.Then there are the bean differences, anywhere from little tiny brown ones to jumbo black ones.

Another question, so if they are made as natto maki. Then do you put it into rice balls too?

I totally love the rice balls. When I go to the convenience stores in Japan I always buy some salmon ones. They are so clever with the wrapping, keeping it separated from the rice.

Thinking about going to buy some more natto and grossing out my coworkers again.

Wimpy · February 27, 2003

Torakris-

That's the way my Edo-ko (Tokyo-born) Mom taught me.

Tissue- one whole chicken egg may be a bit too much for first timers- I mean it's pretty slimey already without. A classier version is to use one raw quail's egg and plop in the middle of the natto. Make sure egg is fresh!

Oh and by the way, best thing to drink with it is green tea or other hot teas to clear the palate of the slimey feel. Cold water won't do it.

torakris · February 27, 2003

I have never actually seen natto in onigiri (rice balls) when it is sold in the convenience stores it is sold in one of two forms. Either the te-maki zushi style which looks like an ice cream cone, or in the kappa-maki (cucumber roll) style, usually sold in about a 4 inch long roll.

The convenience store onigiri in Japan are really wonderful, a little while ago I had a king salmon onigri (grilled salmon was gently flaked) and was sooooo much better than the usual salmon flake. My two other current favorites are a maguro wasabi-joyu (raw tune with wasabi and soy sauce) and shio-kalbi (salt flavored kalbi style grilled beef).

Every convenience store here has their own specialities.

torakris · February 27, 2003

Torakris-
That's the way my Edo-ko (Tokyo-born) Mom taught me.

Wimpy,

I was instructed on the proper art of natto making by my Edo-ko husband! :biggrin:

Must be a Tokyo thing!

Wimpy · February 28, 2003

Torakris-

My mom and I used to corner the natto supply at home all the time coz my younger brother and my gai-jin dad couldn't stand it! Lucky for us!

Luckily, we have plenty of natto supply here in Singapore where I am now based. There's a huge Japanese expat community here so they have large supermarkets (e.g. Isetan and Takashimaya) filled to the brim with japanese products, including potatoes from hokkaido, and the like, and yes, natto.

Sad part is that my gai-jin wife disallows natto at the table when she is present, so I must skulk in the corners of the home at odd hours to enjoy my little treat.

:sad:

Akiko · February 28, 2003

:smile:

My husband banned it from our home... so I'd always order it at restaurants.. and then I got him to have a bite here and there. He still does not especially like it... but I think I'm getting him there...

fried bacon bits in your natto is also good. I'm being quite serious.

But then fried bacon bits are good in a lot of things!

Akiko · February 28, 2003

Tissue,

try the chopped up version on your bowl of rice. There's a different texture to the different sizes of natto and whether they are chopped or whole. It affects the taste too, some of those big bean natto versions make me cringe... I'm not sure if its the size or the fact that I think it becomes a little too... beany.

I like the chopped and the koh-tsubu (small beans).

But you should try them All!

margaret · February 28, 2003

Any opinions on the natto with other ingredients pre-added? I recently tried a few different varieties - one with hijiki (eh), one with kombu (not bad), one with a five grain mixture added - but I think I still prefer the tried-and-true plain, tare/karashi garden variety. Any other interesting flavors out there?

My favorite way of eating it has always been to pour it over hiya yakko (chilled plain tofu) with scallions and lots of soy sauce. Tastes good, and there's something interesting about eating the soybean in three different forms in one dish that's always appealed to me. Chopped okra is also a good addition, too.

Jinmyo · February 28, 2003

Margaret, welcome to eGullet.

Yes, I think the hiyayako with shoyu and natto thing is fun also. Sometimes I'll make a miso/mirin sauce instead of shoyu.

torakris · March 1, 2003

Any opinions on the natto with other ingredients pre-added? I recently tried a few different varieties - one with hijiki (eh), one with kombu (not bad), one with a five grain mixture added - but I think I still prefer the tried-and-true plain, tare/karashi garden variety. Any other interesting flavors out there?
My favorite way of eating it has always been to pour it over hiya yakko (chilled plain tofu) with scallions and lots of soy sauce. Tastes good, and there's something interesting about eating the soybean in three different forms in one dish that's always appealed to me. Chopped okra is also a good addition, too.

Margret,

like you I at one time tried all the different varieties and always came back up the plain old karashi/soy ones.

I have a hard time with the large beans, a koh-tsubu girl myself!

my husband's favorite way of eating it is with chilled noodles topped with natto, the little balls leftover from tempura making, scallions, and okra.

tissue · March 4, 2003

my husband's favorite way of eating it is with chilled noodles topped with natto, the little balls leftover from tempura making, scallions, and okra.

Do you eat it with somen or soba?

And do you cook the okra before you add it to the noodle?

torakris · March 4, 2003

He eats it with either somen, udon, or soba, depending on what is in the house and in that preference.

We eat the okra raw, but everyone seems to think that is weird! :shock: :sad: :biggrin:

torakris · April 20, 2003

My husband's newest way of eating natto is to mix it into gyudon with a whole raw egg, he say it on tv a week or so ago and as been eating it for breakfast everyday since.I guess I can't really comment until I have tried it....

smallworld · April 20, 2003

I can't imagine natto gyudon. So are you saying that you make gyudon for breakfast every morning??

Your husband's other favourite, with noodles, sounds like a soba dish I've been eating lots lately.

Someone mentioned natto and kimchi earlier- I love it. Sounds gross but they go well together. It's best to chop the kimchi into small bits first, and it's good served with little sheets of nori- you can scoop the natto kimchi up in the nori like a little taco.

Since natto is supposed to be good for lowering cholesterol (and soy products are super-healthy anyway), I'm trying to serve in several times a week, if not everyday. Natto kimchi works well as a snack or appetizer, which is good for days when we get a bit sick of regular natto.

The first time I had natto that I liked was deep-fried natto at an izakaya, but I took that merely as proof that ANYTHING tastes good deep-fried. Next was natto on pizza (I can practicly hear all the 'Eeeeew's out there!) which let me appreciate the nutty flavour of natto. The stinky cheese flavour/aroma matched the real cheese pretty nicely, and the strings either disappeared from the heat of fused to the cheese's strings. Very nice, and the next time I had plain raw natto I liked it!

torakris · April 20, 2003

I can't imagine natto gyudon. So are you saying that you make gyudon for breakfast every morning??

He works close to a Yoshinoya gyudon shop! :biggrin:

I normally just make onigiri for his breakfast and he eats it at work, but occasionally he will go out instead.

tissue · April 22, 2003

Any opinions on the natto with other ingredients pre-added? I recently tried a few different varieties - one with hijiki (eh), one with kombu (not bad), one with a five grain mixture added - but I think I still prefer the tried-and-true plain, tare/karashi garden variety. Any other interesting flavors out there?

Last week I bought some natto and it came with this green sauce in the packet. It was shisho sauce. Looked a little like fine pesto, as a matter of fact. But the shiso flavor was very nice, very strong counter to the natto.

Suzanne F · April 22, 2003

Tissue, that sounds like a way I'd be willing to try natto again. I LOVE shiso! Guess I'll have to ask the store clerks for help, though, since Japanese is one language I can't figure out. :sad:

tissue · April 22, 2003

Suzanne,

yeah you should ask someone to help you. I actually didn't know what I was buying. The package was green though, since normally the other natto packages are white or tan or pink.

torakris · April 22, 2003

Any opinions on the natto with other ingredients pre-added? I recently tried a few different varieties - one with hijiki (eh), one with kombu (not bad), one with a five grain mixture added - but I think I still prefer the tried-and-true plain, tare/karashi garden variety. Any other interesting flavors out there?

Last week I bought some natto and it came with this green sauce in the packet. It was shisho sauce. Looked a little like fine pesto, as a matter of fact. But the shiso flavor was very nice, very strong counter to the natto.

I had this a little while ago too, I was quite surprised at how good it was.

I just bout a new kimchi cookbook the other day and it has a recipe for making natto kimchi, not mixing the 2 together but actually kimchi-ing natto!

torakris · April 28, 2003

My 2 year old ahs been on a natto kick this week and it is the only thing I can get him to eat! He wants just natto no rice and i have to add the little pack of karashi (hot mustard) or he throws a fit!!

Today my husband made up his own natto for breakfast with sakura ebi (dried shrimp), nori, hijiki, scallions and egg.

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