Last week, our cellgroup games forfeit was to eat a spoonful of natto with wasabi. Many of our cellgroup members were wondering what that pungent smell was and did not want to get forfeited so that they wont have to eat it! Two of our cellgroup members were the sad ones that got forfeited (3rd one being me but i like natto!), and they literally felt like dying when eating the natto. So today lemme introduce this mysterious natto!

When i first ate natto, i tried one small mouthful and did not like it at all! i hated the smell and sticky texture of it! however, after a few more times, i started to take bigger and bigger mouthfuls of it and fell in love with natto! the pungent smell actually attracts me to it and somehow it smells a little like coffee beans to me.

ok u might be wondering why i kept trying natto over and over again even though i dont like it! its because john looooveeess natto and i kept buying it for him to eat! thus i had to keep trying it too!

natto is actually a type of traditional japanese food made from fermented soybeans. it is fermented with Bacillus Subtilis. ok i dont know what is that but wikipedia said so. wikipedia also said that it is a rich source of protein and good bacteria but i already knew that, since its soybean right???

so history of natto... if u dont wanna read, pls skip to the next part.
right, history.... ok so sources differ about the origin of natto but the consistent thing in all the sources is that originally, natto was made by first steaming the soybeans then fermenting it in rice straw. they would leave it in the straw bags to ferment for days and the fermentation was done either buried underground underneath a fire or in a warm place.



today, natto is made steaming the soybeans for 6 hours then mixing it with the bacterium. the mixture is then fermented at 40 degrees celsius for 24 hours. after the natto is cooled, it is aged in a refigerator for up to one week to allow the development of stringiness. today, it is usually sold in small styrofoam containers and a typical package contains 2 or 3 containers. It usually includes a small packet of soy sauce and a packet of mustard.


Natto is eaten in many different ways in different parts of Japan and i guess they all try to come up with special ways to enjoy natto. for me, i like to eat it by itself, straight out of the pack! but i am always game to try other ways to eat it! one good way would be to put it into a handroll.


or do it like how most japanese does it. mix it with rice for breakfast

i saw this at a japanese-western restaurant at NEX some time ago,