As someone who's increasingly interested in the fairly recent breakthroughs in understanding the extreme importance of our GI biology, this really caught my eye.

I especially welcome a talk about how to reclaim our biome that doesn't end with a product to which the speaker has unique access and is willing to let you in on his/her secret - for a price, of course.

It also appealed to me as a cheese-lover who often likes tastes others find off-putting.

NATTO - Nature's new (for real) wonder food

Sounds interesting; I'd probably like it.

Natto is probably the most talked-about food in Japan for health, there have been studies of how good it is for you and so on.

It is also the nastiest thing I've ever eaten in my entire life. WTG, I bet you can get it at Mitsuwa. Let me know if you like it.

Well that doesn't bode well.

I know the description of something between chopped liver and cottage cheese sounds odd, but I happen to like both of those and I know a lot of people don't because of the textures of those foods.


What don't you like about it?

quote:

Well that doesn't bode well.

No, it doesn't! Especially because I am pretty adventurous when it comes to food, and I tend to love super sticky cheeses, things that are pungent, I'm not averse to unusual textures etc. etc. I love a lot of pickled things that smell funny...

Natto is gooey and sticky, which wouldn't be so bad, but it's also slimy. Kind of like ... is it okra maybe? (Oh and I love cottage cheese too btw, I like liver, what are things that people often don't like? I like all kinds of seafood, fish eggs, sardines, oysters, pickled herring, sea urchin...)

But it's not the texture of natto, or even the taste. It's really just the smell. It is so powerful, so bad, I can't really describe it, It's like the worst kind of smelly gym sock you can imagine, and then some other stuff thrown in as well.

My mother-in-law once made it for me over rice, and then she cracked a raw egg on top of it. The idea is you kind of mix it up, and the egg covers up the smell. Which it mostly does. I was able to eat that (without gagging. We're talking natto, so the bar is low). But raw egg is kind of nasty too, so that (natto+raw egg over rice) is not something I would ever seek out on my own.

But at some point I had forgotten how nasty natto is when it's not covered up by something, and Mr. SK and I saw a TV program (when we still lived in Japan) about how healthy it is, how it's basically the miracle food blahblahblah. So, being the good consumers we are, we said "look, half of the population of Japan eats natto every day, literally for breakfast. It's probably just an acquired taste. How bad can it be?"

So we went out and bought some, and decided that we would make it part of our routine. We bought three little boxes, and opened one. I should say, at this point, that Mr. SK is adamantly against wasting food, to an extreme degree almost.

I took a bite (and gagged). And then he took one bite of that natto, got up, went into the kitchen, took all the natto we'd bought, put it into a plastic bag, spit out what was in his mouth, and said "we're throwing this out." (Subtext: and we shall never speak of this evil day again.)

I guess we forgot that, yes, half of the population of Japan eats natto for breakfast every day, but that still leaves the other half. We, evidently, belong to the latter group.

Seriously, it's so bad, you should try it at least once.

Maybe it is an acquired taste. It's been several years since I tried any (or smelled any), so if I had the chance again, I'd give it another try. It is supposed to be sooo healthy.

But my word, it is nasty.

I checked and it seems everyone is out of it for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus.

I'm crushed.



Seriously though, given the types of foods you like (oysters, sea urchin) and that I'm not all that fond of, natto probably isn't something that would appeal to me.

I'll stick with kimchi for my microbes.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
I checked and it seems everyone is out of it for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus.

I'm crushed.

I love kimchi!!

People are hoarding Natto.

Who knew?

quote:

Who knew?

Jon, probably.

(I bought those hair clippers....)

You guys know I was joking, right? I didn't call nobody.

quote:

You guys know I was joking, right? I didn't call nobody.

??

What am I missing?

OOH! You didn't call around to see if you could buy natto?

I totally believed you had done exactly that!

After your description my interest in trying it dropped to zero. Maybe lower.

quote:

After your description my interest in trying it dropped to zero. Maybe lower.

Sorry!

[SupermanCape]My work is done here.[/SupermanCape]

I too am turning off it overall from the description (and I like okra!).

Surprised the Japanese aren't more enthused about seaweed as a life extender. I discovered it from my Okinawan former SIL (no, they're NOT Japanese ethnically, and however condescended to, they're if not THE, then one of the very longest lived people on the planet). Whether or not related, SIL survived (and vigorously) stage four liver cancer discovered almost 20 years ago.

I've been on the point of buying Marine Phytoplankton Powder - another "Super-Food" - probably from the same impulse as the one that led me to Natto. However, it looks like I'm not the only one as I see it too is sold out at Amazon. (Very pricy already and I'll bet it's been way jacked up since I studied it. Note, Steve, yes, I see a great many esoteric protein and longevity foods have gotten much more expensive there of late. People are really serious about fighting mortality, especially now that it's encroaching all the more. More life-enhancing than Hermes bags for sure!)

It's amazing how many elixirs are for sale these days - and to think how many desperately impoverished people are more apt to starve to death than die of the latest scourge itself. All from enforced social isolation which left them unable to prepare, lacking time and/or money. Yes, same old, same old - "If living were a thing that money could buy..."

Only it is, to a great extent. Why else are bunkers big business now? Probably many were on the verge of this purchase (for so many escape motives) but now this real tsunami pushes them into deciding.