Okame Natto – My Favorite Japanese Foods (8) – foods
Yes, it’s fermented – like cheese, right? Okame Natto is my favorite Japanese foods. I’m sure many of you are NOT familiar with “Natto”, so I’ll explain what it is first:
Natto is very traditional Japanese foods, which is fermented soybeans made with Bacillus subtilis. We eat it all day long, but it is especially popular as a breakfast food. Natto is a vital source of nutrition in Japan – a rich source of protein and probiotics. Natto can be an acquired taste because of its smell, strong flavor, and slippery and slimy texture like “Okura” (but more powerful). The more you stir it, the tastier and slimier it can get (See the picture on the right side). I don’t put any garnish until I get lots of slimy spider web like strings. Fluffier is better and tastier. I eat it as is but prefer with green onions, egg, bonito flakes, soy sauce and mustard (when I eat it w just a bowl of steam rice). Even many Japanese don’t like it. lol. I’m not the one of them.
< Benefits of eating Natto >
- Calcium building: Large amount of Vitamin K2
- Lowering blood pressure
- Improving digestion
- Lowering Cholesterol
- Anti aging
- Antibiotic
< Natto Dishes >
We don’t eat it just on rice. It can be in sushi, sashimi, pasta (yes, natto pasta. It’s very popular even at the restaurants in Japan), soup, egg dishes, deep fried dishes etc. We love to eat and cook it in various ways to enjoy it.
Now you know what “Natto” is. You can buy all kinds of natto in Japan. Different size of natto (size of beans), brands, packages, extra ingredients (seasoned, with other condiments etc.), softness etc. You name it. Japanese love variety so much, and you can find all kinds of natto products. I can even see several varieties at Japanese supermarkets in CA, but not as many as in Japan, of course.
Finally, the reason why I like the “Okame Natto” particularly. As I mentioned, I don’t just eat it as it is. This “Okame Natto” comes with little packages of mustard and special “Natto” sauce, which is VERY yummy. It’s kinda like a soy sauce, but lighter in color than that and tastes different. It makes my natto completed. lol. Yeah, I can use just soy sauce, but this sauce makes my natto tastier. Many other natto brands don’t include that kind of sauce. So I skip those and pick this.
If you put other ingredients, it gets less smelly and tastier. Try once at least. It’s pretty good. That’s the reasony why “Okame Natto” is my favorite Japanese food.
