so i finally had natto...

[bluepxl]

and i'd just like to know what the big deal is all the other gaijin always talk about? i mean, so often i hear americans HATE natto, and everyone i have ever talked to and everything i have ever read about it online say thigns like "natto smells like dog crap" or "natto smells absolutely wretched and makes you want to die" and also things like "natto is the worst tasting thing ever created" or people always talking about how it is the one thing japanese did wrong, and i often read people talking about how it makes them want to vomit after eating.

but i have a japanese friend who would always bother me to eat it, and so i gave in yesterday.

and since i was expecting it to smell terrible and taste even worse, i had tons of water glasses lined up and i was but a few steps from the restroom in case it came down to vomiting.

but then i opened the package, took a wiff, and i was like hmm.. smells like dirty clothes or something, but nothing that really bothers me incredibly much! so then i tasted. and i was wondering what on earth is wrong with all the other gaijin that complain! what's the deal with all the amreicans who say that it makes them want to barf?

ok, i definitely would say natto is not something i would want to eat everday. nor is it something i actually would say "oh yea natto, i love that". i wouldn't even say i like or prefer it. BUT it didn't bother me at all. it didn't smell or taste GOOD, but it wasn't bad or wretched or making me want to vomit. it almost tasted kind of bland. and i asked my japanese friend if it was a weaker kind of natto, and she said nope, it's like all the others that she has ever had in her life.

i also find it funny because i am not the kind of guy with an iron stomach and who loves the taste of everything. i am kinda picky. i'll try anything, but i don't like just anything. and there are tons of foods out there that taste so bad or are so gross that it starts me feeling like i want to rolf it up. but natto was fine for me, and i didn't feel like throwing up a thing... also i had another friend who she made try it with me, and he too doesn't have some iron stomach and in fact has a sort of weak stomach. didn't bother him one bit either! so what the heck is the deal?

but it could use a little flavor. my japanese friend thought we were crazy cause i started to mix in korean kimchee and my friend was adding a bunch of ume balls in the mix. don't forget some soy sauce and spicy hot sauces. hehehe...

[GomiGirl]

I love Natto.. it is an acquired taste though. But I think the main thing is to be prepared for it - ie get your brain ahead of your tastebuds just like you did.

At first I hated Natto, the smell, the taste everything. This is because I accidently bought a natto maki from the convenience store thinking it was tuna mayo. When I bit into it my brain was expecting tuna mayo but my taste buds registered sweaty, fermented vomit. This was about 4 years ago.

But as time went on and I spent more weekends away with friends, I watched them lap up the natto, strings and all. So I was determined like bluepxl, to see what all the fuss was about.

Now I eat it all the time... not at home so much as I am a "eat-a-slice-of-toast-on-the-way-to-the-subway" kinda gal, but certainly if I am away for the weekends and everything is prepared by someone else.

For me the only way to eat it is:

open tub-o-natto and mix the enclosed flavour sachet/mustard
pour over white rice
mix a slightly cooked egg with small amount of shouyu
dip small sheet of nori in egg mix and use to wrap around small amount of natto/rice combo as a maki *
eat while collecting all the "strings"

*note this does take some practice to roll up the rice/natto in the nori with hashi but that is half the fun.

This way combines alot of flavours and you can adjust the percentage of rice/natto to taste. I really enjoy the taste of straight natto now but also it is really good for you.

But then growing up in Australia, I learned to love eating Vegemite and that is what I have on the on-the-way-to-the-subway slice of toast in the mornings... so if I can enjoy vegemite, I can eat anything I suppose.

BTW have you ever seen the expression on a person's face when they eat vegemite for the first time expecting it to be chocolate spread? Not pretty..

[Big Booger]

natto sucks... My wife eats it, and afterwards her breath smells like dead cat asshole.. ewww. Not only that but it stinks up the whole room... Make sure if you do eat it to brush your teeth afterwards... and to ziplock shut the natto package.. and throw it in the gomi!!! don't leave it setting out like my lazy wife so that when I come home the whole place smells like fermented poopy...

I have tried it 3-4 times, and each time I almost throw up... The smell is over-powering... especially if you buy the really old natto... (the good stuff) eww.

I know it is herushi.. and everything.. but it is bad. Some of you may like it. But only a few. I will say this 90% of it is the visual stimulation from the runny strands of curd slowly slipping down your hashi hold as you bring it to your mouth, and the smell makes you think of moldy bread stuffed in a microwave oven with a little feces spread over the top.

I had a friend, who was bound and determined to get me to eat natto, so much so that offered to fix natto so that I would enjoy it. He mixed it with okra and ketchup... telling me it was his families secret recipe.. omg, that is the nastiest combination in the world.. NEVER eat Okra, ketchup, and natto...

BB

[GuyJean]

It reminds me of that Cheech and Chong skit:

"Looks like dog shit, smells like dog shit, tastes like dog shit ... good thing we didn't step in it!"



GJ

[Andocrates]

ma-freaking-zou

Try to tell a Japanese person some of the food they eat gives them bad breath for days, they don't believe you. There is nothing in the whole world worth then natto, miso or kimchee breath.

[GomiGirl]

It is called brushing teeth after each meal.. not just for minty freshness but overall good oral hygiene!!

I have never had a problem..

But natto maki from a combini is nasty!! It sits on the shelf for hours. yukko.

[Big Booger]

ur lucky if japanese brush their beaver's once a day... much less after each meal.. and have you all had the natto snacks? It's natto inside a seaweed covering.. nasty...
BB

[cstaylor]

Whenever a Japanese tells me to try Natto, I point out "If your parents hadn't forced you to eat this crap when you were 2 years old, you wouldn't eat it either".

Can anyone point me to an unbiased scientific study showing that eating fermented beans is good for your health?

[Taro Toporific]

HATE natto, ... it could use a little flavor. my japanese friend thought we were crazy cause i started to mix in korean kimchee and my friend was adding a bunch of ume balls in the mix. don't forget some soy sauce and spicy hot sauces.

Ahhh Japan = LIFE with NO SPICE!

Feijoada with Soy Sauce ....The Japanese, however,
have adapted totally to Brazil ....

Me? I eat natto-maki 'cause it the cheapest thing on the menu.

[bluepxl]

see what i mean? so many of you have a hatred towards it along with a vivid imagination. perhaps my sense of smell is weak (which may be true actually, i can't smell things from far distances) but it really doesn't smell as wretched as all of you describe. i had to put it up to my face to really get the idea of the smell, and even then it wasn't making me want to die. it was gross, yes, but like a pro i could handle it!

yea, there is supposedly a whole area or city of japan that is fully against natto-- so much so that it is bad to ask for it in restaurants there! i forget where this was...

personally i would never want to eat it again, i mean if i had the choice to eat something else i would pretty much never choose natto (unless that something else was dog crap ). but i go to too many japanese homes in which they serve up natto for breakfast, and i just feel bad pushing it away, something they went out of the way of preparing for me. it just feels rude to say no to what people offer you in their home, no matter what your feelings are towards it. maybe that's just my personality, but in cases like that i always just smile, gulp and swallow it up without saying a word. it makes the oya and the sofubo really happy. and, i think sometimes japanese families tend to try and trick me into eating it or want to see my reaction and hear me go "oh, natto! no way! grossss!", because they probably expect such a reaction. but the joke's on them if i swallow it with pride! they'll be like "what kind of gaijin are you?!?" and all shocked, realizing their plan to take me down has failed!! mwahaha!

[cstaylor]

yea, there is supposedly a whole area or city of japan that is fully against natto-- so much so that it is bad to ask for it in restaurants there! i forget where this was...

Kansai: they don't force their children to eat it, and therefore the adults don't eat it either.

[gomichild]

I've tried and failed. So what - there's lots of food from different places that I don't like.

*is a fussy eater*

My worst natto experience was eating lunch with a room (no open windows) full of 2nd grade students. The natto dribbles hanging out of their mouths ...and the smell...ewwww...

[cstaylor]

but the joke's on them if i swallow it with pride! they'll be like "what kind of gaijin are you?!?" and all shocked, realizing their plan to take me down has failed!! mwahaha!

And then you get the official title of Hen na gaijin.

[GomiGirl]

I also eat umeboshi.. so I am completely henna-ne!!

[GomiGirl]

Can anyone point me to an unbiased scientific study showing that eating fermented beans is good for your health?

I don't know if this qualifies as unbiased..

fermented soy

or this:

Natto: the newest soy

Natto packs a punch of genistein, the isoflavone to which soy's anti-cancer benefits are largely attributed. It contains up to five times more genistein than either tofu or soy milk.3 In soybeans, genistein occurs in a glycosidic form, meaning it is bound to a sugar molecule. As such it is referred to as genistin. But genistin, unlike the unbound genistein, is not as bioavailable. Genistein is absorbed and used by the body at a significantly higher rate than genistin.4 However, there is little free genistein, the unbound form, in whole soybeans.3

In Japan, natto is associated with a wide range of health benefits, but its potential anti-cancer power alone should encourage Americans to give it a try. One caution: Anyone taking anticoagulant drugs such as warfarin should avoid natto because it has a high vitamin K content, which could interfere with these drugs' effectiveness.

Does that mean it helps with thrombosis? just kiddding

[kamome]

see what i mean? so many of you have a hatred towards it along with a vivid imagination. perhaps my sense of smell is weak (which may be true actually, i can't smell things from far distances) but it really doesn't smell as wretched as all of you describe. i had to put it up to my face to really get the idea of the smell, and even then it wasn't making me want to die. it was gross, yes, but like a pro i could handle it!

bluepxl: you've only tried it once, and from the sound of your previous post, it was some girl who made it for you. Give it another try, from a different source, and see if you still feel the same way. I just can't believe that your natto didn't smell that bad unless it were modified in some way.

[cliffy]

I also eat umeboshi.. so I am completely henna-ne!!

Yes but you did admit to liking Vegemite so you may be "henna-ne" in two hemispheres!!

( Born, raised and still living in Aus. and I can't stand the stuff )

[bluepxl]

And then you get the official title of Hen na gaijin.

or "nihonjin"... hehe, i've had some japanese friends so shocked of the things i know and ways i act so unlike gaijin sometimes that they keep saying that i got eye surgery and painted myself really white. hehehe...

[bluepxl]

bluepxl: you've only tried it once, and from the sound of your previous post, it was some girl who made it for you. Give it another try, from a different source, and see if you still feel the same way. I just can't believe that your natto didn't smell that bad unless it were modified in some way.

well, it was store bought, a common popular brand she said...

[bluepxl]

I also eat umeboshi.. so I am completely henna-ne!!

umeboshi is totally bad ass!!! i love having those up in my onigiri.. i could just eat that all day! sometimes the japanese think i'm really crazy cause i will just grab a bunch of umeboshi from the jar and eat them straight... and then suck on the seed.... but it's awesome! hehehe