Natto. I used to hate the stuff, and I especially hated the days at school when natto was served as part of lunch. The teachers would take the uneaten portions of natto and store the little styrofoam packages in their desks. The school office would reek for days of unwashed socks.
Actually, I’ve since changed my opinion of natto. It tastes good. It tastes healthy. It tastes all right.
My son, who just turned three, likes natto, and that’s fine with me, although the problem is that in Canada natto quickly sells out at the supermarket, so my wife makes it in the oven. The delicous, musky aroma then fills the house for days.
Japanese consumers, however, may be having second doubts about natto due to fears that the soybeans used to make it may be genetically modified.
Japan Today has more here.
Natto as school lunch in Canada????
I have never heard.
man, when I was in high school at Tokyo international school they would serve that at lunch. it took 2 years for me to eat it.
Mongo - I lived and taught in Japan for ten years.
That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. It’s worse than scat porn. They look like facehugger eggs.
mmm nice on ice-cream, curry or spag
Paul, we must remember to be respectful of other peoples and other cultures, and this includes food. Don’t forget, Americans are responsible for one of the vilest, most repulsive products known to the human race:
Coca-Cola. Pepsi comes in a close second.
I like natto, always did, 100% Westerner but no problem with that dish. oishii. in fact, i have never met a dish i didn’t like. but that’s me.
btw, what does NATTO mean, in its original kanji? NA-TO? what are the roots of those characters?
and pass the natto. good post, ma’am!
納豆:
Probably phonetic, although the first character can be used to say: 納屋, which means barn.
豆, of course, means “beans”.
Coca-Cola? Vile? Suh, I must challenge you to a duel. I choose overripe bananas at ten paces.
You’re right about the Pepsi though.
Isn’t there some mixture at Japanese izakaya that combines natto and raw maguro? I forget the name. It’s pretty good, especially with some beer or sake to wash it down with…
Natto seems to be one of those things that you either love or hate. Add me to the hate side
So basically, it’s the Japanese equivalent of Vegemite/Marmite (no, those are not names of explosives for those who aren’t in the know.)
Love natto, more than most of my japanese friends. And I don’t like everything as someone said. Natto’s just, good.
My own taste for natto developed around the time my son was born. I was sort of flabby and out of shape, so I started running and watching what I ate. I started to eat mainly Japanese food, which, if you’ve been raised on a diet of sugar, sugar, and more sugar, is sort of bland. But the more I got into food - wild mushrooms, different kinds of tofu and what have you - the more I grew to really like the taste of Japanese food. It has a very organic, so to speak, basic kind of flavour, and natto became a little more palatable.
Of course, now that I live in North America, I’m back to my old evil ways: sugar, sugar, and more sugar.
Coke bad? So the rest of the world is wrong and you are right. Coke really cuts the grease on those fries. Natto? Love it. Serived on chilled slice tomatoes or like a dressing on a small salad. Yummy!!! How do you make natto at home?
Been eating nattou around twice a day lately. Made some nice nattou pasta the other day. You have to develop a taste for it, but once you do, you won’t be able to get enough of it. I also tried puttin it in gyoza, with kimchi and with mayonnaise. Mayonnaise was kind of weird.
One of my favorite ways to eat natto in the winter is to mix it up with all of the stuff that comes with it in the bottom of a cup. Next, pour in a packet of instant mushroom soup, add hot water, mix well and you have quick and dirty bean soup.
Really warms the innards on a cold day!
I dont see why some people find Natto so disgusting, i mean lots of things in the west if you think about it are similar. Cheese is basically mold, beer is basically rotting wheat/hops etc.
Natto is an acquired taste for sure. Eaten alone, natto can try the tastebuds but on rice its quite nice.
My main gripe is the sticky gooey stringy stuff that goes everywhere.
It is good with mustard. I don’t think mayonnaise would suit natto, but I did catch an episode of Hey Hey Hey where some talent put mayo on everything…
I’ll have to find the oven recipe for natto…
I love natto!
how the hell do you make natto?
For the uninitiated, Natto mixed with mayonaisse is a good way to get a “softer” introduction to the food. Of course, you have to like mayo…
Its not the idea of what natto is that is so bad its the smell. If I find some beer or cheese in my fridge that smells like natto I’m throwing it out. All I know is its the worste smelling thing someone has ever offered to feed me. I literally thought my friend was joking around by offering me a cup of rotten food she was throwing out. But I saw that I was wrong when she started chowing down on the stuff. I will force myself to try it some day but you won’t catch me leaving it my work desk to marinate.
It was never the taste of natto that put me off, rather it was the texture. Really, I didn’t even mind that while I was eating it. What I didn’t like was the coating that natto left in your mouth, kind of slimy and I don’t know…iya. But like many others, I didn’t mind it all that much, and feel a bit nostalgic about it now that I’m back in the States…