Natto-making at home.

[Durgan]

Natto- Home Making.
Natto is considered to be a fine human food. Normally it is commercially produced. Deciding to make it at home, this is my method. Natto is fermented whole soy beans, which is very common in Japan.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BGGIL 14 December 2008 Natto Making at Home

Select about 500 ml of dried soy beans, was thoroughly, boil for ten minutes in water, discard this water, and rinse thoroughly. Place beans in colander and place in pressure cooker. The colander is necessary to prevent the beans from touching the water, and boiling up and clogging the exhaust valve. The beans are cooked by the steam formed. Cook for about 1.5 hours. This insures the beans are soft and well cooked. Mix the spores with molasses, salt, and water at about 60 degrees centigrade and about 200 ml of water, and stir into the cooked soy beans mixing thoroughly. Spread the beans on a tray, not too thick, cover with plastic wrap and punch some holes in the material, and place in the incubator for about 24 hours.

I eat a small bowlful for breakfast daily, along with a dish of cooked rolled oats. Five hundred ml of dried beans is about a weeks supply for one person. Keep in a normal manner in the refrigerator. When making, use hot water and heat to keep the working area as clean as possible to limit the introduction of airborne spores. Maximum spore temperature is 60 degrees C, and the incubator is set to about 40 degrees C.

The incubator is a normal camping thermo box, and the heat is supplied by a drug store heating pad. The process is dead simple, and takes little time and effort. I find the end product very pleasant to ingest. Fermented soy beans, disarm all the detrimental effects about eating whole soy beans, judging by current literature.

Spores are available on the Internet, but much cheaper if you can get them sent from Japan. A small vial is sufficient for making many kilograms of Natto. The vial keeps in a sealed container in the refrigerator for long periods.

[redmaples]

very impressive Durgan. i may just try making natto.

I have japanese friends who like to share food. Is natto made with different types of beans? there is a sweet, black bean dish that I thought was called natto (made w/adzukis), but not sure. your natto appears sticky, is it also sweet?

do you grow your own soy beans? I am saving all my dried soy beans for planting next year. we usually eat them fresh as edamame, but would like to grow much more to be able to make something (such as natto) with the dried.

I will be having japanese lunch w/my friends soon & will ask them a lot of questions after seeing your post& wanting to try making natto.

thanks!

[Durgan]

very impressive Durgan. i may just try making natto.

I have japanese friends who like to share food. Is natto made with different types of beans? there is a sweet, black bean dish that I thought was called natto (made w/adzukis), but not sure. your natto appears sticky, is it also sweet?

do you grow your own soy beans? I am saving all my dried soy beans for planting next year. we usually eat them fresh as edamame, but would like to grow much more to be able to make something (such as natto) with the dried.

I will be having japanese lunch w/my friends soon & will ask them a lot of questions after seeing your post& wanting to try making natto.

thanks!

I have not tried making Natto using other than soy beans. Natto is sticky, sort of like cob webs if pulled apart, which break under their own weight if held up for a few moments. They taste like soft beans and are not sweet, since the only sugar added is contained in the molasses to activate the spores. The taste is sort of neutral, and the odor is sort of yeasty. Japanese never make Natto at home, and the person who introduced it to me, explained some complicated method which was obviously too complicated for home production, hence my effort. The method I use is as close to any commercial Natto produced, that I have been exposed to. Pressure cooking reduces preparation time, and makes the effort almost effortless.

I don't grow the soy beans, but I have grown some in the garden in the past. They are probably better grown commercially due to the relatively large number required. Edamane is very nice, and I utilize it when available.

I consider the typical Japanese diet to be probably the best in the world, judging by the general health of the people, particularly their weight, which is decidedly different from the people in NA.