In the middle of summer, Japan celebrates Natto Day. The Japanese have long touted natto as a superfood, but the pungent smell of fermented beans and sticky, viscous consistency put off many people who have yet to muster the courage to try it.
Every day, without missing a single morning, my 65-year-old mother prepares food that many find repulsive in its appearance, smell, and taste. Natto is a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soybeans. Its ammonia smell and slimy texture have divided humanity into two camps: those who hate natto and those who adore it. Interestingly, even people who grew up in families that regularly consumed natto sometimes end up in the first camp. A 2017 survey by Japanese internet provider Nifty found that only about 62 percent of Japanese like natto. 13 percent find its taste very unpleasant. However, many still eat it for its health benefits.
Natto is often served with green onions and raw egg. “Natto is very smelly. It’s impossible not to notice its smell,” says Yuki Gomi, a Japanese chef who runs the Yuki’s Kitchen cooking school in London. “But I always keep it in the fridge.” According to her, it is one of the main products in her homeland – much like cheese or yogurt for many families in the West. The Japanese call natto a superfood and believe it thins the blood and lowers cholesterol, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke. This is especially important for a country with one of the oldest populations in the world. (Superfood – a term used to describe nutritious and health-promoting foods. – Ed.) My mother often says that natto makes her blood “sara sara” (silky). The Japanese news site SoraNews24 has gone even further, declaring that “eating a packet of natto a day postpones death”. Hitoshi Shirakawa, a professor and nutritionist at Tohoku University (Sendai), ponders and then says, “It’s possible, that’s how it is. He points to a long-term study published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal: Scientists at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found that men and women who consumed fermented soy products such as natto on a daily basis reduced their risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack by 10%.
Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, with more than 28% of the population being elderly. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. Episodes End of story. Podcast Advertising. “Products made from fermented soybeans are less likely to lose beneficial nutrients during processing,” explains Siracawa. These include protein, iron, and fiber, which have a positive effect on blood pressure and weight. “Natto even helps people look and feel younger. One serving (about 40-50 grams) contains as much vitamin K as the Japanese government recommends for daily consumption – this may help prevent the development of osteoporosis”. Natto is also rich in vitamins B6 and E, which Siracava claims increases the rate of cell renewal and slows skin aging. However, fermented soybeans became an integral part of Japanese cuisine long before scientists understood their full benefits. According to Samuel Yamashita, a professor of Japanese history at Pomona College in Claremont, California, the dish was imported to Japan from China as early as the 8th century and became popular with both the aristocracy and warriors. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, it became an important part of Japanese society’s diet, along with tofu (influenced by Buddhist vegetarianism).
A typical natto package usually contains three plastic containers with portions of fermented beans. Yamasita says that natto finally became one of the main dishes in the Edo period (1603-1867), when it appeared in cookbooks and was cooked at home everywhere. Soybeans were soaked in water, boiled or steamed, then mixed with the Bacillus subtilis bacterium, wrapped in rice straw and left to ferment for about a day, depending on the season and temperature. Today, natto is industrially prepared and sterilized. It is available in supermarkets and grocery stores throughout the country. A set of natto usually consists of three small plastic containers and costs between 100 and 300 yen (70-210 rubles). Each container contains one serving of natto and comes with packets of soy sauce and spicy mustard. To prepare natto, simply mix all three components together and pour the resulting mixture over cooked white rice. Other ingredients commonly added to natto include green onions and raw egg. When you pick it up with chopsticks, sticky strings stretch out behind it.
You can buy natto anywhere in Japan, from small shops to large supermarkets. In Japan, natto is usually eaten for breakfast. My mother doesn’t really like the taste, but she eats a whole plate of it every morning, just for health reasons. Akemi Fukuta, a saleswoman at a jewelry store in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district, says she eats natto several times a week because she likes its taste and beneficial properties. Yuki Gomi loves to make natto for her 4-year-old daughter’s lunch. She says natto is a godsend for working mothers. But for some, like Mayuko Suzuki, there is a very special relationship with this simple dish. Suzuki eats it two to three times a day and has built a career as a “natto influencer. Known on YouTube and Instagram as Girl Natto, Suzuki promotes restaurants that serve unusual dishes based on natto and shares her own recipes using the slippery bean. She regularly posts photos of strange culinary combinations – natto pizza, natto pasta, and even natto ice cream. “I enjoy the unique flavor that fermentation provides,” she explains. “When you incorporate natto into recipes, it enriches the flavor of the food and adds its own distinctive notes.”
The unpleasant stickiness of natto is a result of the fermentation process. Given her enthusiasm, it’s not surprising that Suzuki visited Sendai-ya, a Tokyo restaurant that operates on the principle of “eat as much as you can. For about 900 yen (about 630 rubles – ed.), visitors can try a variety of popular dishes. There are even donuts with natto. Despite its reputation as a superfood, natto has not yet managed to conquer the world. However, it has managed to attract the attention of the Swedish Museum of Disgusting Foods in Malmö.
Variations on the theme include sushi with natto. “The two main problems with natto for most people are its appearance and its smell,” explains museum director Andreas Arens. “It contains bacteria that can also be found in the soil, so it also has an earthy smell.” In the Museum of Disgusting Foods, natto coexists with fried guinea pigs from Peru and cheese with maggots from Sardinia. Interestingly, even American “Pop-Tarts” and “Twinkies” are included in the category of “disgusting” foods. “What we find disgusting depends a lot on cultural specifics,” says Arens. “It depends on the environment we grew up in, what we were used to from childhood. And something like natto is an excellent example of this. Yuki Gomi understands this very well. She recalls how much she doubted whether to include natto recipes in her book “Sushi at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Making Beautiful, Easy Sushi” (2013). “I was afraid that people wouldn’t like such a smelly thing. I was almost embarrassed by it,” she admits.
Traditionally, steamed soybeans are wrapped in rice straw and left to ferment for a day. But now, Gomi says, she is seeing a surge of interest in natto among students studying culinary arts. “More and more tourists are traveling to Japan and staying in ryokans, which are traditional Japanese hotels that serve natto for breakfast,” she says. “They come back to London and come to me with stories about a strange sticky dish…it disgusts some of them. And I don’t blame them. But some of them like it, they want to know where they can buy it. Gomi is hopeful that her colleagues from other countries will eventually see natto’s value and love it as much as she does. “I would like to see natto available in more places – like the farmers’ market,” she says. “There’s definitely a trend now toward fermented products – both in food and beverages: kimchi, kefir, kombucha… It seems like the time for natto is coming soon.”
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