How to prepare/eat Natto (fermented soy beans) Vegan 〜納豆〜 | easy Japanese home cooking recipe

Welcome to Taishi's Kitchen. Today I'm going to show you natto. So for those who don't know what natto is, they look like this. They are fermented soybeans and something we eat very typically for breakfast in Japan. But for a lot of Westerners who don't know about this or who have seen this for the first time think this is rather gross because one has this gooey slimy thing around it and also it has like a very distinct pungent smell to it. And this is actually an acquired taste I would say. There are even some Japanese people who don't like this. It's okay if you don't like it but I would urge you to give it a try because this is actually very very healthy. One because it is very high in protein due to the soybeans but also at the same time very low in fat content. And also the bacteria that's in there helps lower the blood pressure and the blood sugar rate. There are some research that says that this is one of the reasons why Japanese people live so long. And I would say this is kind of equivalent to cheese version of soybeans because it is made through fermentation and the taste deepens due to the fermentation and it's got this very distinct smell. I used to actually hate cheese when I was a child. I thought it smelled like rotten milk. So it has that kind of similar very distinct smell to it. And there are even some videos who says natto challenge. The problem that I see about these videos is that most people eat them as it is without any flavor added to it. But this needs to be prepared to be enjoyable. I'll show you that and hope you enjoy it and hope you give it a try. Then let's get started. Let's look at the natto. So in Japan, natto are usually sold like this. In this kind of package. Usually in pack of three but sometimes four. In natto there are three types of natto. One is ootsubu, two is kotsubu, and three is hikiwari. Ootsubu means a big bean. They use like a really big soybeans. And then kotsubu is they use a smaller soybean. And hikiwari means chopped up. Like each chunk is much smaller. They all three taste slightly differently. My father likes the ootsubu. He likes the like a big chunk. I personally prefer the kotsubu natto with the smaller soybeans. But that's just of course a preference thing. But if you go to Asian supermarket outside Japan, you'll probably only be able to find like kotsubu small soybean natto. Natto are sold in Japanese supermarket in a refrigerated section usually next to tofu or fried tofu. Probably because they're both made of soybeans. But outside Japan in Asian supermarket, you'll probably almost always find these in the section. Because they can be stored for quite a long time. Almost like a year or so when it's frozen. And in Japan sometimes you'll find a package like this. Where the natto beans are in rice straw. And that's how they traditionally make these. Because this is the traditional way they sold natto in the old days. Where they didn't have this kind of styrofoam package. Because the bacteria that fermentates the soybeans for natto comes from the rice straw. And natto have the history of about thousand years. So about thousand years ago somebody put the boiled soybeans inside of a rice straw. And left it for a day or so. And then after that they found out that it had this kind of gooey thing. They thought it was rotten. But tried it anyway. And found out it tastes good. And that's how they invented natto. Then let's check this guy out. So you want to open this up like this. Like this. There are usually two other things inside. There's the so-called tare. This is like the mixture of soy sauce and dashi. And then Japanese mustard. And there's usually this kind of film. And you may find this kind of gooeyness gross. But these are actually very delicious. And the key to this. When you open this up. There's this kind of stringy thing. So what you want to do is. You take these things out. And then have this little flap on the side. And close this. And then you take this to the side. And then this comes clean. And then you just kind of fold it together. So that it doesn't stick anywhere. And then you have a very clean natto. So this is natto. In Japan we never eat like this as it is. Almost always 90 percent or 99 percent with some kind of sauce. And usually with soy sauce and mustard. And some people make this in here. That's okay. Of course you can do that. But I like to put it in a bowl. Because I personally don't like eating from this kind of styrofoam package. So let's do that. So any kind of bowl like this. And the first thing you want to do is mix it like this. 20 to 30 times. Without putting anything. Because if you put some kind of liquid in this. Then this kind of gooeyness doesn't come out as much. And they say that in Japan. The more you whisk it. The better it tastes. So let's do that. And you see that it's much much gooier. So then here. We're going to put in this tare. And there's usually a good opening. Like this. I personally like to put a couple drops of soy sauce to it. Because this kind of tare tends to be a little bit too sweet for my taste. And when you put a couple drops of soy sauce to it. Then you have this kind of aroma of soy sauce. And I personally like that. Oh yeah. And then the Japanese mustard. Like so. And again this is also my personal thing. I find these mustard not enough. So I usually like to put a little bit of mustard extra to that. But of course that's your preference thing. And if you don't have mustard. Then this is fine. And then of course you can eat it like this. But often in Japan. We put also to that. A little bit of thinly sliced scallion. Or green onion. These are also very delicious. I like to put quite a lot in there. Because I think they match really really great. Like so. I don't know if that looks appetizing for you guys. In the western culture. Or wherever you are. But for me this looks totally delicious. Then we never ever eat as it is like this. We almost always eat this with rice. So then let's get some rice. So I got the rice ready. Let's put this over the rice. Like that. And this is finished. And ready to be eaten. Okay let's eat. Itadakimasu. Oh this looks so good. Let's eat. So what you want to do is you want to kind of have a like a good ratio of natto to rice. So I would say like that much. So itadakimasu. So if you excuse me. So there's this stringy part. So you want to kind of using a chopstick kind of want to break that apart. Oh this is like really home. So good. Oh this natto matches rice so perfectly. So another great way to eat this is with nori seaweed. So what you can do is. And by the way if you store nori you want to store it sealed. As little contact to air as possible. Otherwise they get soggy very fast. So what you can do is you can kind of make your own small sushi. So you want to put a little rice on it. Like this. And then put the natto on top of it. And just kind of wrap it around. Very small sushi Oh this is so good. So natto matches nori really well. It's a great combination. That's a little bit too full. Itadakimasu. This is really good. Also this is just like a perfect breakfast material. And of course if you find chopstick too difficult to eat natto like this. Then you can use just a spoon. Little chowder in Japan they use spoon for eating this. Itadakimasu. So in the beginning I said natto is healthy for you. Natto has this enzyme called natto kinase. It helps to lower the cholesterol and lower the clotting of the blood. And also the blood sugar rate. So you kind of want to do this motion when you're eating natto. So that you break out the stringy part. Sorry for the slurping. Oh that was totally delicious. Oh that was delicious. Oh I love natto. So it is a little bit of acquired taste. So if you don't like it it's okay. But I hope you give it at least once a try when you go to Asian supermarket next time. This is actually very delicious and this is very healthy for you. Hope this video kind of broadened up your idea of what you can cook. And if you like what you saw please hit that like button. And I look forward to see you in the next video. Bye.