Natto - how to eat it?
Traditional serving tips and some innovation ideas from me.
Slimy can be part of the health benefit of slimy 'super’ foods like okra. Trying to prepare it without the sliminess by rinsing a lot, is going to remove the ‘super’ benefits probably.
How to make the sliminess more appealing or less noticeable without ruining the health benefits?
Mix it or prepare it with something that helps balance or reduce the mucilaginous (slimy) texture would be my suggestion.
Gassy indigestion may occur from more fibers feeding the gut microbiome too well, leading to too much gas in the small intestine where it hurts much worse than in the colon, where it is more normal and can be expelled (flatulence). Cooking okra with some Gumbo file seemed to make it more digestible for me.
I have not tried Natto but have read that it is a strong flavor and a slimy texture - an acquired taste - something you have gotten used to and now appreciate but others don’t (yet).
Natto is typically eaten cold with rice as a breakfast dish in Asian cultures. But it may also be served heated which increases the aroma and flavor (so cold might be better for some diners). Stronger flavored toppings are generally added and raw egg yolk is a traditional topping for Natto served over rice. More on this is included later in the post. (tsunagujapan.com)
My untried, theoretical kitchen suggestion:
Cooking idea for reducing sliminess - make a gravy with some garbanzo bean flour, gently cook a bit after stirring the flour into a smooth paste/slurry with some water, or lumps will happen instead of a gravy. Then mix the gravy into the Natto and let it combine into a new consistency, possibly needing to sit overnight (in the refrigerator) to form a new resistant starch combination.
Tapioca and arrowroot starch make a stringier/slimier texture in Jello or pudding and I found that using a couple spoonfuls of garbanzo bean flour mixed in the starch slurry, a little less starch, grand total of flour to water ratio still needs to not add up to rubber bouncy ball thickness... back to the point - the garbanzo bean addition makes a creamier pudding that has less mozzarella like resistance to being eaten.
That technique might work to modify the starches in the Natto that give it the slimy effect, without losing the health benefits. ***I don't really know how it is traditionally eaten in a meal, and I haven't tried it. I haven't read much about it outside of PubMed references which don't get into culinary tips.
More general summary of the advice/gleanings in the last post:
Query in the comments: How to eat almost a 1/2 cup of Natto when any is too slimy and not good?
My answer: 1/3 cup? ;-)
Slimy is part of the acquired taste I imagine. Trying to prepare okra without sliminess is suggesting that the okra be reduced to straw basically - the sliminess is the health benefit in part.
Any suggestions... go skim back through the early part of the post as I added more detail on the K2 supplement and a link and I found one other K2 supplement product.
My main suggestion was in the initial post though - work on improving your gut microbe balance so the gut microbes are making it for themselves and you. The Mega SporeBiotic product is my suggestion for that - or if you have some natto, trying to eat a couple spoonfuls would be helping seed your gut with that species. *I will do a follow-up post on the Microbiome Labs company - to order from their website, you need a practitioner, so individually, through email I could give you my practitioner code so you could set up a Direct Order account. Their vitamin K2 product is under 200 mcg so I don’t recommend that.
I listed a DaVinci brand product in the last post (an update) which has 500 mcg along with 50 mg of resveratrol - that would be better or the Life Extension Mega Vitamin K2 which is on sale currently and I linked to their website. I am a member and recommend their products on a case by case, read the label basis. I regularly use their products.
Hold your nose and swallow fast?
The problem with adding gravy or anything else to a strongly flavored item, is you then have a whole bowl of strongly flavored food - it doesn’t necessarily get less noticeable and then you have a whole bowl of it. So, a couple strong spoonfuls on the side of the plate and eat a bite occasionally in between the main meal, is often how strong side dishes are used in a meal.
Peppery hot fermented Kim Chee is a side dish in Asian meals. Spicy, vinegary chutneys are a side in Indian meals.
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Business opportunity:
An enterprising food entrepreneur might find a probiotic/vitamin K2 market for Bacillus subtilis cultured garbanzo beans or black-eyed peas or Moong dal — non-soy alternatives that are lower in lectins naturally. Fermenting soybeans is more of a critical need than those lower lectin legumes. The areas of the world that grew soybeans, learned how to make them safer for consumption. Modern soy products that aren’t fermented are not really safe to eat because of the anti-nutrient load. Lectins can cause blood-clotting based on blood type or some can cause membrane breakage. Cow’s milk protein is similar to blood type B antigen and therefore is safe for those people while being unsafe/allergen or coagulation risk for all other blood types. (Dr. D’adamo’s work)
Natto culture can be purchased, https://www.ebay.com/itm/387612925378?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=387612925378&targetid=4580909053911840&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=603247654&mkgroupid=1236951625700523&rlsatarget=pla-4580909053911840&abcId=9316139&merchantid=51291&msclkid=40efaedd336214d6c90cc9413da3374c Once a culture is going, you keep feeding it some fresh food and removing part of the old batch - so a family with homemade Natto fermenting might traditionally have some at breakfast as the culture is being fed new soybeans and some are being removed. I don't know though. I haven't read about making natto.
Cultural appreciation and adaptation of traditional methods are different than cultural appropriation. Innovation is about adapting ideas for more uses.
Brave AI summary; Traditional Natto Serving Methods
Natto, a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soybeans, is typically served and eaten in several traditional ways:
With Rice: The most common method is to serve natto over a bowl of steamed white rice. This dish is often enjoyed for breakfast in Japan.
Seasonings: It is usually accompanied by soy sauce, karashi mustard (a spicy Japanese mustard), and sometimes chopped scallions or other seasonings.
Additional Toppings: Some people add toppings such as pickled plum (umeboshi), boiled egg, or even kimchi to enhance the flavor and mask the strong aroma of natto.
Natto Gohan: This refers to the dish of natto served over rice. It is a staple breakfast food in many parts of Japan, particularly in the eastern regions like Kantō, Tōhoku, and Hokkaido.
Other Dishes: Natto can also be used in other dishes like natto sushi (nattōmaki), natto toast, or even in miso soup, tamagoyaki, salad, and okonomiyaki.
The preparation involves mixing the natto with the included soy sauce or mustard packet that comes with commercially packaged natto. Stirring the natto produces many sticky strings, which is a characteristic of the dish.
Flavor tips from a Japanese website:
‘You’ll Get Addicted In One Bite - The Correct Way to Eat Natto”
*With the mustard and sauce packet that is provided along with rice or plain - or add toppings to modify the aroma and flavor. The article has lots of images of the typical product available in Japanese markets - single serving tubs.
“Standard toppings include (from the left of the above picture) green onions, katsuobushi (sliced dried bonito), kimchi, and raw eggs.
Japanese people add either the whole raw egg or only the yolk, but for people from countries where consuming raw eggs isn’t a normal occurrence, trying this with a sunny-side up egg might be a good start.
There are many other ingredients that go well with natto. For example, try it with ingredients like wasabi, cheese, mayonnaise, nori (seaweed), perilla leaves, or umeboshi (pickled plums). Pepper or tuna go great with natto, too!
Another common way to eat natto is by adding your chosen ingredients and then mixing it well with soy sauce instead of the special sauce or Japanese mustard that comes with the package! Find the toppings that suit you and try eating natto the right way – it’s sure to taste delicious!
Surprisingly, natto goes well with not just rice, but also bread and pasta. Challenge yourself by giving it a try!” (tsunagujapan.com)
Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.
bought it once at a local organic market , small container, ate only half, time to revisit perhaps , now that i know what to expect
couple of years ago,i worked in hawaii. at the high end hotel where i stayed, was an amazing buffet of western foods (which i avoided)and 'eastern' foods. every morning, i chose natto, a bit of fish and rice. all the wait staff stopped by my table each day asking how i knew about natto and why i was eating it. i actually came to love natto after those two trips,but upon returning to the southwest desert landscape the only natto i found was filled with msg. i'd sure like to learn to make it since it's a highly valuable source of everything good for the blood. thank you for posting about it.