I'm Back to Try Natto!

Hi, everyone, it's Emmy, and I am back to try today something that has been much requested and something that I actually really quite like. It's called natto! So, for those of you that don't know what natto is, natto is a pretty traditional Japanese food. I guess you call it a dish? Or um, just food! Traditional Japanese food.

Natto is soybeans that have been fermented. They've been inoculated with this stuff and it creates this really sticky, slimy film around them, and that they are quite, um - how do you put it politely - pungent in odor? People call them also stinky or foul-smelling. A lot of people actually don't like natto. I am in the camp of those that love natto, so I don't mind the smell. I don't mind the flavor. I think it's delicious.

Okay, I had to go rescue my child! Um, so, natto it's typically eaten for breakfast. You find them in the grocery store kind of in the deli case - really reasonably priced. Anywhere from a dollar? Equivalent of like a $1 to $3 in U.S. dollars for a three pack. One of the things I've noticed in Japanese food, when I was living in Japan, is there's a great appreciation for, um, slimy textures. So, natto and there's a yamaimo - which is a type of mountain potato that has a very slimy, viscous consistency or texture - which is loved! And soups are slurped, so there's this very much unique, I think, mouth feel to Japanese cuisine? That's different than western cuisine. I think a lot of westerners have a hard time dealing with that consistency?

I love it, I love it! I love the squelchy, squishy, slimy. I'm into it. So, for those of you that try natto be warned, fair warned, besides the smell, there is also a consistency, so... and it does smell very strong. The best way I can describe it is it's similar to some stinky cheeses. So, I'm going to share with you natto. So today I have a bowl of rice. This is a rice bowl that I made when I was in Japan. I took a, um, ceramics class with this lovely lady in my neighborhood. But anyways, here's one of my bowls, and some hot rice.

And this is the one I'm going to eat today. This is one of my favorites! It comes in this little cute plastic container called umeki? So what you do is you open, and you remove the little plastic film - and it is very pungent - and inside you'll often find two little packets of some kind of flavoring. This says shiso nori - which is like a shiso flavored - shiso is like... Heck! Similar to basil. And nori is seaweed. And, um, the sealed yellow packet which you often see is karashi, which is mustard - Japanese hot mustard. So there's different ones. Some have just like tsuyu - which is some sort of sauce - and karashi, some have wasabi. So like I said, there are many, many, many different kinds.

And then inside you have this: those are the beans, and then there's a little plastic film. So you remove the film, and you can immediately see the strands of the culture. The culture is what they use to create that flavor and hence the smell. What you do is you take your hashi, your chopsticks - you want to develop that slime. So look at that! Add your... in this case I'm gonna add some soy sauce and a little bit of vinegar.

So, Take Care!

Alright! Take care, and I'll see you in my next video. Bye!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHi, everyone, it's Emmy, and I am back to eat todaysomething that has been much requested and something that I actually....um...really quite like. It's called natto!So, for those of you that don't know what natto is, natto is aI guess you call it pretty traditional...Japanese... I don't know if you call it a dish?Or um,Just food!Traditional Japanese food. It's fermented soybeans,and there are thousands -- well okay perhaps not thousands --dozens, maybe even hundreds ofpermutations or styles of natto.So natto is soy beans that have been fermented.They've been inoculated with this stuff andit creates this really sticky, slimy film around them,and that they are quite, um --how do you put it politely -- pungent in odor?People call them also stinky or foul-smelling.A lot of people actually don't like... don't like natto.I am in the camp of those that love natto,so I don't mind the smell. I don't mind the flavor.I think it's delicious.Okay, I had to go rescue my child!Um, so, natto it's typically eaten for breakfast.Um, you find them in the grocery store kind of in the deli case -- really reasonably priced.Anywhere from a dollar?Equivalent of like a $1 to $3 in U.S. dollars for a three pack.One of the things I've noticed in Japanese food, when I was living in Japan,is there's a great appreciation for, um,slimy textures.So, natto and there's a yamaimo--which is a type of mountain potato that has a very slimy, viscous...consistency or texture -- which is loved!And soups are slurped, so there's this very muchunique, I think, mouth feel to Japanese cuisine?That's different than than western cuisine.I think a lot of westerners have a hard time dealing with that consistency?I love it, I love it! I love the squelchy, squishy, slimy.I'm into it. So,for those of you that try natto be warned, fair warned,besides the smell, there is also a consistency, so...and it does smell very strong.The best way I can describe it isit's similar to some stinky cheeses.So, I'm going to share with you natto.So today I have a bowl of rice.This is a rice bowl that I made when I was in Japan.I took a, um, ceramics class with this lovely lady in my neighborhood.But anyways, here's one of my bowls, and some hot rice.And this is the one I'm going to eat today.This is one of my favorites!It comes in this little cute plastic container called... umeki?So what you do is you open,and you remove the little plastic film --and it is very pungent --and inside you'll often find two little packetsof some... kind of flavoringThis says shiso nori --which is like a shiso flavored -- shiso is like...Heck! Similar to basil.And nori is seaweed.And, um, the sealed yellow packet which you often see is karashi,which is mustard -- Japanese hot mustard.So there's different ones. Some have just like tsuyu--which is some sort of sauce--and karashi, some have wasabi.So like I said, there are many, many, many different kinds.And then inside you have this:those are the beans, and then there's a little plastic film.So you remove the film, andyou can immediately see the strands of the culture.The culture is what they use to create that flavorand hence the smell.What you do is you take your hashi, your chopsticks --you want to develop that slime.So look at that!Add your... in this case I'm gonna add my nori...and my karashi, which is my mustard.And then, again, give it a good mix.Then, after do that, you just...top it onto your rice --adding some green...some sliced green onion on top.Itadakimasu!Mmm!Delicious!So that's a trick: like if you use your chopsticks,and you give it a twirl,it'll break those strands.Otherwise you get the kind of strands of slime kind of hanging on your mouth,which isn'tum, necessarily attractive or pleasant feeling.So, has a bit of that soy sauce sweet and salty flavor,and it tastes kind of cheesy!And then the green onions give it a really nice kind of freshness.Very, very humble humble food, you know, just beans and rice.And it's supposed to be very nutritious -- really good for you!Lots of like, lots of cultured and fermented foods -- like Kimchi, ornatto, orkombucha --those kinds of things are all supposed to be really great for you, so...yeah, it's good for you; it's affordable,and um, it's just plain delicious.So, I highly recommend trying natto.If you've never had it before, give it a go.Maybe you'll find you like it.Maybe you'll find you detest it.Anyways, I hope you try it!If you do, if you've had it,or let me know what your experiences are with natto,I'd love to hear about them.Yeah, don't forget to subscribe, like below, and leave a comment and let me know--let me know what your experiences are with natto.Alright! Take care, and I'll see you in my next video. Bye!\n"