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Just tried natto for first time

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grandkodiak

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so I made the 150-mile round trip today to this place in north Jersey Mitsuwa, a gigantic Wegmans-style store but everything Japanese. I went up to get a bunch of authentic Japanese food that you can't ever find in the Chinese-run sushi joints that litter nj, and I also found that they had natto!

for those who've never dared to try it, it takes like soft cold soybeans, but with very distinct but soft notes of mild Swiss and maybe a hint of provolone dairy-type taste. It's actually quite good over sushi rice, and it came with some really hot yellow mustard and soy sauce. It's incredibly mushy/sticky, id liken it to streams of hot glue spider webs that are thinner than hair and stretch seemingly forever, haha.

I've always wanted to try it, and I can say it's almost exactly what I expected, but even better! The soy sauce and mustard added just enough kick to balance the cheesiness to it, and the rice held it all together and gave it some base!

Glad I got 6 boxes of it cause it's one hell of a round trip to get lunch!! Gas and tolls alone...then throw in traffic? Ha! Nightmare.


NEW JERSEY | Mitsuwa Marketplace | A Japanese Grocery Store | Open 365 days a year!

We offer wide varieties of fresh, safe and reliable Japanese grocery products along with appliances and cosmetics! At our food court, you can enjoy sushi, sashimi, and bento with genuine Japanese rice. We also host exciting events on weekends for your entertainment.
mitsuwa.com
 
Well, I'm glad someone likes it.

For me, I can't get past the whole "fermented maggots shat out of a baby's corpse" appearance and smell problem...

So it isn't really for me.

Still don't understand how food that has already gone bad has an expiration date though.
 
id guess the main reason is that bad bacteria will still grow on it like anything else.., that and probably because the fermentation process will continue until the point where the flavor is spoiled beyond what anyone would consider appealing...

think of yogurt, rancid yogurt... its basically milk rotted with certain type of bacteria that makes a new flavor for us... but if you dont eat it, it will still go rancid eventually!

think ill try mirin on it next, i got a bottle of it, and wow... so f'in good. its like a mixture of pancake syrup, sake and soy sauce haha
 
grandkodiak said:
until the point where the flavor is spoiled beyond what anyone would consider appealing...
Click to expand...

I'd argue that it happens before it hits the shelves but... some people like it :O
 
nutritious

Although I don't eat natto often, I know that it's nutritious and non-fattening. Much better for you than other stuff, such as red meat or pork, that adds oily lippids to your fat cells thereby doubling or tripling their size, which is how you get double chins and lose your waistline.

Tofu is another good source of soy protein.
 
im allowed my winter coat thank you

ha it might be good, but i am eating it over probably a thousand calories of rice haha
 
Seriuosly I love Natto, I have a pack for breakfast and a pack for dinner. I think it is an acquired taste, but I can't go a day without it.
 
Glad someone else likes natto overseas! Just out of curiosity I wonder how much the 6 packs cost you? They're less than a dollar a pack here.

I'm by no means a vegetarian but I eat extremely little red meat. I basically only eat if I go out and someone else orders it. My diet is mostly eggs and fish, and tofu and natto play a big role in helping me get my protein as well. Natto is very nutritious as Dogen Z said.

Ah plus sometimes I eat yaki tori when I go out, I can't help it it's so good.

My usual brand is okame kokusan white, because it has the highest protein content out of the ones at the store near me and the beans are the biggest so I can chew them better. I even found a photo:


I especially like natto with some negi (green onion) and raw egg served on brown rice, super healthy and delicious. Each pack of kokusan white has 6.7g of protein and I usually eat two, so that's say 13g plus an egg, so make it 16-17g of protein. That's just as much as a small chicken breast or can of tuna!
 
Things for all you Natto lovers to try

ﾂ?｡Go light on the soy sauce and add a dollop of mayonnaise

ﾂ?｡Add grated Daikon radish

ﾂ?｡Add chopped Shiso leaves

ﾂ?｡Add chopped Kimchee

ﾂ?｡Fold Natto into softened cream cheese, use it as the filling for a sushi roll

ﾂ?｡Prepare Natto as usual with some scallion, say sauce, mustard, etc., then top cooked pasta with it

ﾂ?｡Chop Natto coarsely with a knife, add it to a bowl of Miso Soup
 
My take!

ASHIKAGA said:
★Go light on the soy sauce and add a dollop of mayonnaise

★Add grated Daikon radish
Click to expand...
As a weight-watcher, I avoid mayonnaise as much as possible, but it does wonders with food you won't eat otherwise...
Daikon also does wonders.

★Add chopped Shiso leaves

★Add chopped Kimchee
Click to expand...
Same here. Very good when mixed with spicy and/or fragrant ingredients.

★Fold Natto into softened cream cheese, use it as the filling for a sushi roll
Click to expand...
Hmmm... I'd personally want to eat them separately, but if you don't have weight problems, go for it!

★Prepare Natto as usual with some scallion, say sauce, mustard, etc., then top cooked pasta with it

★Chop Natto coarsely with a knife, add it to a bowl of Miso Soup
Click to expand...
These are highly recommended!

Another natto topping recipe for pasta (or soba noodles in my case) consists of:
Chopped natto, grated daikon, grated ginger, chopped negi (or onion) and preferably chopped shiso (basil may do, too).
Just put them on top of cooked, cold noodles (with flair and color), pour soba-tsuyu (instant tsuyu is OK) and mix to eat!

Bon apetit!! :gohan:
 
Last edited:
This natto doesn't sound vegetarian safe, is it? I'm with epigene though, I avoid as much bad food as I can.
 
Putrefaction said:
This natto doesn't sound vegetarian safe, is it? I'm with epigene though, I avoid as much bad food as I can.
Click to expand...

Natto usually does not contain any vegetarians. Some brands of Natto, however, are made in factories where vegetarians are also processed and may contain minute amount of vegetarians.
 
Eh...wait, what? Did you mean vegetables or the people who eat them (vegetarians)?

Hilarious post eitherways.
 
ASHIKAGA said:
Natto usually does not contain any vegetarians. Some brands of Natto, however, are made in factories where vegetarians are also processed and may contain minute amount of vegetarians.
Click to expand...


buahahaha!

By the way that mayo one sounds good, as does the kimchee one, and I also want to try the Shiso leaf. Actually I've been adding Shiso to various things here and there recently, it adds a nice 'floral' hint to the food, kind of like cilantro does.

Natto also goes great on a piece of brown toast in the morning!
 
ASHIKAGA said:
Natto usually does not contain any vegetarians. Some brands of Natto, however, are made in factories where vegetarians are also processed and may contain minute amount of vegetarians.
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha.... that was great.
 
I posted this back in October concerning natto and how I came to acquire a taste for it and the nutritional benefits of natto. Like I said in the post, it is an acquired taste, but it tastes nothing like it smells (at least to me).
You have to first keep beating and mixing it with chopsticks (or whatever) until it is really sticky and gooey. The stickier and gooier the better. I like it with slivers of raw ika (raw squid) and some wasabi mixed in, and it is also good mixed with rice.


bakakanadajin said:
Natto also goes great on a piece of brown toast in the morning!
Click to expand...
I will definitely be trying these recipes! Thanks!

Putrefaction said:
This natto doesn't sound vegetarian safe, is it? I'm with epigene though, I avoid as much bad food as I can.
Click to expand...
It's as safe and healthy as you can get. Check out the links in my linked post above as to the health benefits.

Ashikaga said:
Natto usually does not contain any vegetarians. Some brands of Natto, however, are made in factories where vegetarians are also processed and may contain minute amount of vegetarians.
Click to expand...
Now that was funny! LMAO!
 
haha i noticed that but i wasnt gunna point it out. vegitarians actually taste quite lovely! haha

i cant recall the cost but they came in 3 packs? i got 2 different types cause i never had it before and the store had dozens! ive had it a half dozen times now and i found that i like it over sushi rice that i make with seasame seeds, amble rice vinigar and sugar, and for the natto itself, i add the soy sauce and mustard that it comes with, then add more mustard and alittle wasabi, whisk it up nice and frothy then dump ontop of the hot rice. mmmmmm. i tried adding some tobiko but the flavor is lost too much to even notice it outside of its texture.

problem is the place i found it is north jersey, and the roads are horrible, the traffic is horrible, and its expensive in gas and tolls alone! maybe ill make it a once a month trip, wish the train went there!! i live a block from the train station on a line that goes right to manhatten... it stops in hoboken too but i dont think there are any local lines that run up to mitsuwa!
 
I absolutely love it and many people cannot understand why. Even some Japanese friends I have cannot understand my craving for it!

It can be enjoyed so many ways. As mentioned, it is very good with squid and rice. Another way I love it is with maguro (tuna). It can be also made into a maki (roll) with tuna and rice.

A local chef at a Japanese restaurant makes it for me using tuna, salmon and occasionally other fish including whitefish and also puts some nori (seaweed) in it. I have this for lunch usually once a week. A little expensive (about $12.00) but very worth it.

Also, natto is very good for you! I am not sorry to say it, but one of the reasons I think so many Americans have poor health is from their poor diets, overeating, lack of exercise and general lack of self-care.

Man, this thread just makes me miss Japan even more.
 
Adding natto (with your favourite seasonings such as soy sauce, Japanese mustard - which is very strong, shiso, chopped negi, etc.) to tofu is good too.
 
undrentide-san, I did some natto recently with the shiso leaf and negi as you and Ashikaga-san suggested, it was really good! I also added kimchee! Natto was of course always delicious to me but I never actually thought of it as comfort food until I added these secret ingredients. Now it's become something I actually get cravings for.

 
anyone notice it kinda warms you up, like hot chocolate on a cold day? despite being cold? haha maybe its all in my head or im eating natto thats long expired and some toxins are going to work haha
 
I've only tried natto once. I didn't know you were supposed to stir it and put it on the rice, so I just ate it straight from the packet. I thought it tasted like coffee. I didn't think anything much about it good or bad, but I haven't eaten it since then. The same day the people I was with gave me green tea ice cream, which I thought tasted disgusting.
 

what about the smell? Some people said here that the dish smelled soo bad that they didn't dare to try it.
 
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