Home Made Japanese Natto: Fermented Soybeans

Natto is a centuries' old Japanese staple, now a gourmet food, that has stellar health benefits. But is an acquired taste for most Western palates....I love it over hot rice with Chinese mustard, chopped scallions and a splash of soy sauce. Tiny styrofoam boxes (with breathing holes as it is a living probiotic food) imported from Japan are quite pricey....so buy just one and use it as "starter" for your own home made locally grown natto in the manner of sourdough bread or kefir and yogurt.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• cooking
• urban
• farmsteading
• natto
• John
• Starnes

[johnstarnes]

It seems to be a question of aging and storage, with the frozen store bought natto being months old. When I've frozen my own it darkened over time. Cool that you got the "spider web"!

[johnstarnes]

B. subtilis is a very common soil bacteria. B. natto is the sole bacteria that makes natto.

[johnstarnes]

Good thought...this fall I will try making a batch of tempeh using African Jack Beans after seeing a video about that.

[johnstarnes]

Thank you! I bought a packet of frozen natto at my favorite Asian store here in Tampa, the Oceanic. Look for a bundle of three small styrofoam boxes of natto in the freezer section of a good Asian market. One thawed out will innoculate a LOT of cooked drained soybeans. Save some from each batch you make in your freeze to use as "starter" for future batches. Just be sure to let the soybeans cool so as to not kill the Bacillus natto bacteria. John

[johnstarnes]

Thank you! I bought a packet of frozen natto at my favorite Asian store here in Tampa, the Oceanic. Look for a bundle of three small styrofoam boxes of natto in the freezer section of a good Asian market. One thawed out will innoculate a LOT of cooked drained soybeans. Save some from each batch you make in your freeze to use as "starter" for future batches. Just be sure to let the soybeans cool so as to not kill the Bacillus natto bacteria. John

[Nushgala]

At first, I thought I was getting a lesson on how to make it. Then the history lesson came. Most_ f what you said about it I had no idea. It was actually very interesting. I had no idea natto was a health beneficial food. Never had it before but now I really wanna try it. I'm gonna go to the Japanese super market and get one. Thanks!

[MizNouP]

I love natto, so does my brother and my 5 yrs niece. In fact, she just had some for dinner. Fortunately for me, natto is pretty cheap here in Hawaii. One pack comes in three or four Styrofoam for $1.40 and it goes on sale often. I don't eat them often but I always have some in stock.. I'd like to try making them, but I'll probably cost me more to get a lot of soybeans to make them than just to buy.

[thammara]

I have a question. I just made some yesterday and the sticky web has developed a lot, but the actual beans are still the same colors that they were (light yellow). Are they supposed to eventually turn brown like the store bought natto?

[aarongrubb]

I'm pretty sure it's Bacillus subtilis

[Bissen]

Nice! You always read that the layer isn't supposed to be more than 2-3 cm thick, but you seem to have at least a good 5.

My batch of nattou has fermented for about 18 hours now, and it has a slight smell of ammonia. Hope it'll subside; I'm just nervous I might end up over-fermenting...

My earlier batches haven't been too succesful, and the bacillus formed in blotches rather than as a film, so I think I didn't boil them long enough.

Anxious to see this time's result!

Thanks for the great vid!

[express375]

High in Vitamin K2

[Chyrue]

i love tempeh, :DD malaysia <3 <3 come to malaysia :DD have some tempeh

[orthant]

It smells like overnight socks... according to my friends in Taiwan. But why people in Tokyo eat it each day?