Mmmm....Natto

While many of my dear readers and fellow Columbusites were glued to the TV last night, lamenting the beating their team was receiving, I was doing something for the first time.

Eating natto.

For the uninitiated, natto is a Japanese food made from fermented soybeans.  According to The Japanese Kitchen, natto was originally discovered when soy beans were discarded in straw beds.  Someone had the brilliant idea to try it a few days later and discovered the soybeans hadn't decomposed, they had turned into a foodstuff which would delight a culture and pretty much horrify everyone else.  Fans of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations might remember the episode in which Bourdain travels to Japan and finds himself incapable of eating the bowl of natto presented to him for breakfast in his hotel.

Natto has a rather distinct aroma and texture.  The texture has the exact viscosity one gets when making rice crispy treats, just when adding the crisped rice to the melted marshmallows.  This makes it rather difficult to get on one's chopsticks at first.  The aroma is reminiscent of twice-used gym socks, with a hint of ammonia thrown in for good measure.  Fortunately, the flavor is much more palatable than the aroma is appetizing.  The flavor is nutty, with a slight pungency one might get when eating the rind of a well-aged soft cheese. 

This natto, which Husband and I ordered while dining at Kihachi last night, was served with slices of tuna sashimi with a few scallions, garnished with seaweed shreds and daikon radish, along with a smear of hot Japanese mustard, the perfect foil to the rich gaminess of the natto.  If you are dying to try natto for yourself, but would rather try the experience at home where you are free to react as you wish, it can be purchased at Tensuke Japanese grocery.  Using a chopstick, stir it into sticky submission and use the sauces provided.  Serve over hot rice.

So would I eat it again?  Of course, although I confided to Husband that while the natto was not nearly as challenging as I thought it was going to be, I would prefer to be eating the shrimp paste stuffed, itty-bitty rice cracker crusted, fried shitakes we were also munching at the time.