It's smelly, slimy and Japan can't get enough

The Times ^ | 1/20/07 | Richard Lloyd Parry

[bruinbirdman]

It smells like a mixture of overripe Gorgonzola and putrefying mushrooms. Its texture is that of slugs stuffed with mozzarella. It is natto, or rotten soya beans, and is one of the world’s most challenging foods, as loved and loathed in Japan as black puddings are in Britain or rotten herrings in Sweden.

And in the past few days it has become a cult, as natto-mania has swept Japan, emptying supermarket shelves and leaving soya bean fermenters scrambling to catch up with the unprecedented surge in demand.

Earlier this month the television programme Revealed! Encyclopaedia of Living recommended two portions of natto a day as a way of losing weight in only two weeks. By the following lunchtime, natto had sold out nationwide.

Demand has tripled as chubby Japanese have overcome their aversion to its smell and texture. So extreme is the craze that even natto manufacturers are warning consumers not to jeopardise their health in their all-consuming desire for rotten beans. They are credited with alleviating everything from thrombosis, osteoporosis and high cholesterol to dysentery, cancer and baldness, although few of these benefits are established scientifically.

Producers have been flooded with complaints from established natto aficionados and have taken out newspaper advertisements apologising to them for the natto famine.

“If this boom turns into a reminder of the virtues of traditional Japanese food, all well and good,” said Noriyuki Ogata, of the Japan fermented soya bean federated co-operative society. “But we must emphasise that natto is not a medicine. If you want to lose weight, you need a well-balanced diet and a proper amount of exercise.”

Natto is produced over the course of a week by soaking, steaming, fermenting and cooling soya beans, and combining them with salt, sugar, yeast and bacteria. At 50 yen (21p) a packet, it is one of the cheapest items in any supermarket. It is often eaten for breakfast on top of rice, but it is also used to make sushi or omelettes, or served with noodles or spaghetti. It is even sold as a flavour of ice cream.

When prodded with chopsticks, the slimy goo coating the soya beans forms web-like strings. The flavour is nutty and surprisingly mild.

Revealed! has stoked health food booms before, such as for cocoa beans or black soya beans. But none has been so huge or unlikely as natto-mania. “We had three times as many orders as usual, and we still haven’t been able to meet them,” a spokesman for the Mizkan food company said.

[investigateworld]

Having just finished a delightful dinner including hagis, all I can say is don't sound too bad.

[CarrotAndStick]

A European specialty:

Casu Marzu:

Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called "lagrima", from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as transparent, white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches), prompting recommendations of eye protection for those eating the cheese. Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

Appearance and taste Yaroslav Trofimov, writing in the August 23, 2000 edition of The Wall Street Journal, describes the cheese as "a viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue and can affect other parts of the body". Susan Herrmann Loomis reports an encounter (in a 2002 Bon Appétit article):

He … grabbed a piece of pane carasau, the traditional flatbread of Sardinia, rinsed it quickly under water to soften it and went to a large glass jar on a side table. He opened the jar, scooped out a mound of what looked like thick cream, and folded the bread around it. …When he was finished I asked what he had eaten, and he got up to show me. Inside the jar was pecorino, busy with small, white worms. I'd heard about this cheese, but this was the first time I'd gotten so close. … A friend of his … said, 'It's formaggio marcio [literally, "rotten cheese"], cheese with worms. It's a delicacy. It's the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd.'

The cheese is typically consumed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine.

A European specialty:

Casu Marzu:

Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called "lagrima", from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as transparent, white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches), prompting recommendations of eye protection for those eating the cheese. Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

Appearance and taste Yaroslav Trofimov, writing in the August 23, 2000 edition of The Wall Street Journal, describes the cheese as "a viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue and can affect other parts of the body". Susan Herrmann Loomis reports an encounter (in a 2002 Bon Appétit article):

He … grabbed a piece of pane carasau, the traditional flatbread of Sardinia, rinsed it quickly under water to soften it and went to a large glass jar on a side table. He opened the jar, scooped out a mound of what looked like thick cream, and folded the bread around it. …When he was finished I asked what he had eaten, and he got up to show me. Inside the jar was pecorino, busy with small, white worms. I'd heard about this cheese, but this was the first time I'd gotten so close. … A friend of his … said, 'It's formaggio marcio [literally, "rotten cheese"], cheese with worms. It's a delicacy. It's the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd.'

The cheese is typically consumed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine.

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.soya.be/

Looks like it is good for the heart, among other things.

[Jeff Chandler]

It is even sold as a flavour of ice cream.

Every Japanese chef on Iron Chef tried to make fish ice cream, and now this.

I get the distinct impression that the Japanese just don't understand the concept of ice cream.

[Gamecock]

***black puddings are in Britain***

Nothing like fried, congealed blood to got to going in the morning!

[bruinbirdman]

"Casu Marzu:

Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition."

Yeah, but I bet it ain't sold out!

yitbos

[CarrotAndStick]

We may have to find that out from the Sardinians, after all, it's still "the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd."

Lol!

[fieldmarshaldj]

"It's smelly, slimy and Japan can't get enough"

The Democrat party ?

[dc-zoo]

Much better to take the 'natto' enzyme capsules and not have to eat that nasty stuff. Vitalzym has an enzyme product which includes natto which is known for dissolving blood clots and clearing the arteries. A product which I take.

[USNBandit]

Having lived in Japan I came to the conclusion that many of their delicacies must have been the product of a dare. "I bet you won't eat that."

While I enjoyed a lot of the food over there, I also ate quite a few dishes just to be polite. I am convinced that some of my Japanese friends ordered the stuff just to see if they could get the American to eat it.

[NormsRevenge]

Sounds like a winner.

'natto' must be why Japan has a lower incident of heart disease or did at one time.
--

Heart Disease Statistics

http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/healthy/stats.html

Of thirty-five countries surveyed in 1991, the United States cardiovascular death rate ranked 17th for both males and females. The highest death rates were in the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The lowest were in Japan, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada.

[bruinbirdman]

"stuff just to see if they could get the American to eat it."

Cajun head cheese isn't cheese. Quite tasty, actually.

Anything goes well with Tabasco Sauce.

yitbos

[C210N]

While deep in the heart of Taiwan, it was hard not to notice a Chinese delicacy they had. It STUNK! I don't recall its name, but it was basically rotten eggs and was the most foul smelling thing you could imagine. I managed to never eat it, but my understanding was that it tasted nothing like the smell - that it was delicious.

[CarrotAndStick]

Seen something like that on TV. Century eggs, or so, it was called?

[dc-zoo]

Yes diet does make a difference. The natto enzyme is called nattokinase and was discovered by a Japanese doctor. VitalzymSEB is the kind I take which includes nattokinase.

[bruinbirdman]

"The natto enzyme is called nattokinase and was discovered by a Japanese doctor"

Does it take off weight?

[Fairview]

The highest death rates were in the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.

I believe this. The Eastern European food is incredibly high in heavy cream, sour cream, butter, eggs, lard, sugar, goosegrease, bacon, fatty ham, pork, the fattiest cuts of beef, soup swimming with grease, etc. A lot of it is incredibly delicious. But fifty years ago everybody ate this food and then walked twenty miles in the course of the day as they tended their animals and land. Now they eat this and sit in front of their computers. There is no tradition of working out and people think you're nuts if you go running.

[AntiGuv]

[Tamar1973]

Shiritaki noodles, another Japanese food, actually is low carb, low calorie and doesn't smell like putrid cheese. I've had that from time to time it's actually good.

However, the natto aficionado they quoted earlier is right, eat a balanced diet and exercise. That's the right way to lose weight.