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An enzyme in Japanese food natto beans could help to prevent Covid-19 infection, according to research conducted by Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT). The fermented soya beans, which have been a popular foodstuff in Japan for over 1,000 years, contain extracts which researchers believe break down spike proteins on the surface of coronavirus, in turn preventing it from infecting other cells. This is a fairly significant discovery because people become infected with Covid when the spike proteins on the virus' surface become attached to receptors on the human cell. If natto beans break down the spike proteins, it...

It's not the prettiest dish, but natto has some powerful health benefits.When you think of Japanese cuisine, fresh, delicate flavours and intricately presented morsels spring to mind. Amidst all this loveliness, gooey, sticky and stinky fermented soybeans seem somewhat out of place. Called natto, this pungent dish is lesser known in Australia, but it lurks in the freezer section of Asian supermarkets, waiting for adventurous types to seek it out. Craig Anderson, star of My Japanese Diet (screening April 6 on SBS) is one such culinary maverick. In fact, when SBS Food calls him to chat about the documentary, he’s...

Japan’s latest eating contest puts Coney Island’s famous hot dog-eating contest to shame. At least most people like hot dogs. The city of Mito in Japan recently held a speed-eating contest to see which contestant could eat the most natto: a slimy, fermented bean paste that, according to the Japanese blog Kotaku, “smells like dirty socks.” Natto has been dubbed by foreigners (and some Japanese), as the nation’s most disgusting food. It may well be Japan’s vegemite. Natto is made from fermented soybeans, and looks like its held together by sticky strings. In Eastern Japan it’s known as a delicacy,...

Disgust is one of our most basic emotions—the only one that we have to learn—and nothing triggers it more reliably than the strange food of othersDisgust is one of our most basic emotions—the only one that we have to learn—and nothing triggers it more reliably than the strange food of others In the last several years there has been an explosion of research on disgust. Disgust is one of the six basic emotions—along with joy, surprise, anger, sadness and fear—but it is the only one that has to be learned, which suggests something about its complexity. Most children get their...

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...