Last time, a friend went to Japan to participate in a surfing competition. I was very interested in surfing, and I kept following my friends’ Moments in those days. That morning, she sent a photo.

I saw how good the food was! The recognition mode is automatically turned on: there is seaweed on the left, grilled sausage, eggs, tomatoes and fish on the bottom, and there are stacks of side dishes on the right, with something like tea soup on top.

In the middle is a bowl of rice, with my favorite peanuts in the rice. Just to be sure, I even replied: Peanuts?

Got the following message:

What! !

Natto! Natto! It’s natto! ? Does anyone know what natto is?

Yes! It is a bean, and I know it is a bean.

After searching online, I found out that Nima Natto has a set of functions. It not only retains the nutrition of soybeans, but also can improve some sub-health conditions of the human body due to fermentation...

In order to avoid admitting my mistake next time, I secretly checked on Encyclopedia and Zhihu in private. Now let me introduce this thing to you. If you already know it, please ignore me. If you don’t know it, you can take a minute to understand it.

I always thought that the processed soybean product was tempeh, or something like this!

Natto is a fermented product of soybeans.

Regarding the origin of natto, a more pertinent theory is that after tempeh was introduced to Japan from China, it was brought to Japanese temples by Zen monks at that time. It is said that because it was made in the natto of the temple, Japan became a Common name - "Natto".

For a long time, natto was tempeh. Around the middle of the 11th century, the Mito shogun in the Mito area used cooked soybeans wrapped in straw as military rations. After a few days, they found that they had sticky threads and had a special umami flavor. Later, it gradually spread among the people.

At that time, this kind of food was also called natto. The natto in the temple was difficult for ordinary people to eat. It was a high-end ingredient at the time. The relatively easy-to-make fermented beans are called "Natto", just like a favored girl is called "Princess". As time goes by, "Princess" becomes synonymous with girls. The same is true for natto. When we mention "natto" today, we specifically refer to the brushed natto, while the temple's natto is called "salty natto." Isn’t it a bit overwhelming?

1

It is said that there is a natto machine on a certain website

I bought a natto machine, and the production process is probably based on that of yogurt.

What? Don't want to do it?

There is also something for sale on a certain treasure!

Don’t want to buy?

Then please refer to the second method

2

Handmade

Here is the answer from Zhihu user group:

Her graduation thesis is about the technology and food research and development of natto. .

1. Some soybeans; at least 2 pounds; some fresh dry rice straw;

2. Boil the soybeans in water, wrap them in dry rice straw, and ferment aerobically for 8-10 hours;

3. The next day you will find that the soybeans have fermented into natto, with white sticky threads; the core temperature can reach 40°C;

4. Mix some sauces , you can eat it.

Note: The smell is very strong, and the natto shreds are very difficult to wash.

The following pictures may cause discomfort~

The most common way is to eat it with rice

Or put it in cooked and drained noodles (udon), Add some chopped green onion and shredded seaweed, and you can also add a raw egg. But I couldn’t find any pictures of how to eat it, so I’ll post a picture of the rice.

You can also eat it directly. The legendary natto can be eaten directly as a staple food. In Japan, when you buy it in the supermarket, it will be served with a small packet of soy sauce-like sauce, which adds salty and umami flavor. Then start adding Lao Gan Ma spicy oil or Lao Gan Ma with beans in it...

What a stir! Served with peeled garlic, a bite of natto, and a bite of garlic