Natto is a fermented soy dish very popular in Japan. In France, it is very rare in Asian grocery stores and is found in the frozen food section. Besides being expensive, industrial natto is very strong in taste with small soybeans and uses a lot of plastic. We therefore invite you to make your own homemade natto. In addition to being healthy, you will see it is really very good!
Did you know that? Natto has many benefits for health, intestinal flora and is rich in vitamin K and very high in protein.
The utensils and ingredients to make the natto recipe
To make natto, you will need the bacteria “Bacillus subtilis natto” which composes it. For this, you can either buy it in a bag on this link as we did for our recipe. Or, you will have to provide you a part of natto that you can buy in Asian grocery stores or online on the internet. We advise you to buy it organic. We compared the two ways and the method with the bag is perfect.
For the utensils, we use a yogurt maker for fermentation. We have the Seb multidélice yogurt maker which is very good, and not only for the natto.
For cooking, we have a Seb pressure cooker which cooks the yellow soybeans faster but you can use a classic pan.
Japanese recipe natto, fermented soybeans
Equipment
- 1 yogurt maker
- 1 pressure cooker optional
- 1 Casserole
Ingredients
- 250 g organic yellow soybeans
- 1 large volume of water
- Bacillus subtilis natto" bacteria or a minimum of 50 g of natto Here we have taken 2 bags
Instructions
- In a large volume of water, plunge your raw yellow soybeans and let them swell overnight or 8 hours minimum. Then drain them.
- In a large volume of water, cook your yellow soybeans either :In a pressure cooker: Add the water, heat on medium high heat, from the whistling, cook 20 to 25 minutes on low heat. Remove from the heat and let the pressure drop naturally before opening the lid.In a saucepan or steam basket: Cook on medium-low heat for 2 hours with a lid on top. Keep an eye on the cooking process, if the soybeans crush easily in your fingers it is done, if not continue cooking.
- Drain the cooked yellow soybeans. In a large bowl, pour your bacteria into a little water or add your share of natto set aside, then add the cooked yellow soybeans. Take the time to mix everything well so that the bacteria is evenly distributed.
- Place in the glass jars of the yogurt maker, then ferment for 16 to 24 hours.
- Once fermented, the grains are covered with a white film and you can see sticky threads. Let the natto mature for 2 days in the refrigerator before tasting.
How to eat natto?
Enjoy the natto with a little finely chopped leek or chives, shoyu soy sauce, Japanese karashi mustard or classic medium-strength mustard over Japanese rice.
- Using Japanese chopsticks, froth the natto until threads appear while stirring vigorously (at least 50 times).
- Add your sauce, your herbs, mix a little more and taste immediately!
You can also try with a raw egg on top or dried bonito like in Japan. You’ll see it’s delicious!
