I lost my natto virginity today.
For those who don't know, natto is a traditional Japanese food consisting of fermented soybeans infamous for its funky odor and texture.
(http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/InkPudding/Natto1.jpg?t=1285475828)
For a giggle, please note that the packaging say "bukkake" in Japanese. Now, bukkake is also a perfectly innocent word meaning to splash or douse (as in you're supposed to splash your natto with soy sauce before eating it).
But considering that this is what natto looks like, the alternative meaning of "bukkake" is somehow very apropos:
(http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/InkPudding/Natto2.jpg?t=1285475708)
The biggest thing that turns people off about natto is the smell. Curiously, I didn't find it to be all that bad. Based on people's descriptions, I was expecting a putrid, sour odor to issue forth from the package when I opened it. To me it just smelled earthy and a little pungent. Now, I can see how some people say it's reminiscent of sweaty socks. But I think that's an unfairly extreme statement; if natto smells like socks then parmesan cheese smells like vomit and stilton like your great grandmother's moldy basement. IMHO, there are plenty of fermented foods that smell far worse than natto, I think people are just being squeamish because's it's an unfamiliar food.
As for the texture: Amazing! When you stir this stuff up it sticks to your chopsticks, suspended in numerous tiny threads like silly string or a spiders web. Admittedly it's more fun to play with than to actually eat. When you put it in your mouth, well, it's thick and slimy and ropey.
Bukkake!
Its other attributes are far from endearing but what made me dislike natto was the taste. It's very bitter. And not bitter as in the gentle astringency of black tea or the refreshingly clean bitterness of bitter melon; natto's bitterness bloomed in your mouth and lingered on the back of the tongue and made you want a glass of water to wash it away.
Natto, like oysters, is one of those foods that make you wonder who the hell was the first person to try it. I can't imagine people finding the pungent, sticky mass of beans under their bed of rice straw and thinking "Oh boy, I'd like to have this for breakfast everyday!". But natto seems to be very healthy for you and the people who enjoy it really enjoy it. So more power to them.
I saw that before in Detroit Metal City, but I didn't understand. Interesting, but really offputting.
Interesting but really offputting is an apt description.
I have 2 more packages in refrigerator, so if anyone has any suggestions or natto recipes, I'd be a happy boy.
From what I understand, even a lot of native Japanese refuse to eat it.
Quote from: Nast on September 26, 2010, 06:12:54 AM
Interesting but really offputting is an apt description.
I have 2 more packages in refrigerator, so if anyone has any suggestions or natto recipes, I'd be a happy boy.
Yeah, uh throw it away and just count it as a lesson learned.
Quote from: Doktor Princess on September 27, 2010, 04:25:57 PM
From what I understand, even a lot of native Japanese refuse to eat it.
I can understand that. It smells like pickled turds and looks like snot covered vomit.... I gagged before I could even get it in my mouth. It is probably one of the top 10 most disgusting things (that is actually considered food) that I have ever seen anyone eat.
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
I don wanna.
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 27, 2010, 07:01:52 PM
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
But I just don't understand why you would torture yourself. It's not like it's any healthier than other foods or anything like that. It doesn't cure cancer or anything...
I just have to ask Nigel WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? :x
:lulz:
Quote from: Kiaransalee on September 28, 2010, 02:50:52 PM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 27, 2010, 07:01:52 PM
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
But I just don't understand why you would torture yourself. It's not like it's any healthier than other foods or anything like that. It doesn't cure cancer or anything...
I just have to ask Nigel WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? :x
:lulz:
I see questionable food as a personal challenge.
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 28, 2010, 07:50:04 PM
Quote from: Kiaransalee on September 28, 2010, 02:50:52 PM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 27, 2010, 07:01:52 PM
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
But I just don't understand why you would torture yourself. It's not like it's any healthier than other foods or anything like that. It doesn't cure cancer or anything...
I just have to ask Nigel WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? :x
:lulz:
I see questionable food as a personal challenge.
Yes, I had noticed that about you!!! I have to assume it (natto) eventually just burns out your taste buds?
Quote from: Kiaransalee on September 28, 2010, 07:52:58 PM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 28, 2010, 07:50:04 PM
Quote from: Kiaransalee on September 28, 2010, 02:50:52 PM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 27, 2010, 07:01:52 PM
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
But I just don't understand why you would torture yourself. It's not like it's any healthier than other foods or anything like that. It doesn't cure cancer or anything...
I just have to ask Nigel WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? :x
:lulz:
I see questionable food as a personal challenge.
Yes, I had noticed that about you!!! I have to assume it (natto) eventually just burns out your taste buds?
No; it's like any other fermented food product, you just get used to the taste after a while.
I like how natto's a food that can never be good; at best it can be made tolerable.
Quote from: Nast on September 26, 2010, 06:04:40 AM
I lost my natto virginity today.
For those who don't know, natto is a traditional Japanese food consisting of fermented soybeans infamous for its funky odor and texture.
(http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/InkPudding/Natto1.jpg?t=1285475828)
For a giggle, please note that the packaging say "bukkake" in Japanese. Now, bukkake is also a perfectly innocent word meaning to splash or douse (as in you're supposed to splash your natto with soy sauce before eating it).
But considering that this is what natto looks like, the alternative meaning of "bukkake" is somehow very apropos:
(http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/InkPudding/Natto2.jpg?t=1285475708)
The biggest thing that turns people off about natto is the smell. Curiously, I didn't find it to be all that bad. Based on people's descriptions, I was expecting a putrid, sour odor to issue forth from the package when I opened it. To me it just smelled earthy and a little pungent. Now, I can see how some people say it's reminiscent of sweaty socks. But I think that's an unfairly extreme statement; if natto smells like socks then parmesan cheese smells like vomit and stilton like your great grandmother's moldy basement. IMHO, there are plenty of fermented foods that smell far worse than natto, I think people are just being squeamish because's it's an unfamiliar food.
As for the texture: Amazing! When you stir this stuff up it sticks to your chopsticks, suspended in numerous tiny threads like silly string or a spiders web. Admittedly it's more fun to play with than to actually eat. When you put it in your mouth, well, it's thick and slimy and ropey.
Bukkake!
Its other attributes are far from endearing but what made me dislike natto was the taste. It's very bitter. And not bitter as in the gentle astringency of black tea or the refreshingly clean bitterness of bitter melon; natto's bitterness bloomed in your mouth and lingered on the back of the tongue and made you want a glass of water to wash it away.
Natto, like oysters, is one of those foods that make you wonder who the hell was the first person to try it. I can't imagine people finding the pungent, sticky mass of beans under their bed of rice straw and thinking "Oh boy, I'd like to have this for breakfast everyday!". But natto seems to be very healthy for you and the people who enjoy it really enjoy it. So more power to them.
Every now and then, I get really lonesome and miss my ex from Japan. Then, I remember waking up to the stench of Natto every morning, and I remember why I'm just fooling myself. Foul and filthy, I did the Fugu thing, but 3 years of life together and you couldn't have paid me to eat Natto. Ugh.
To their credit, the Japanese are able to tell that cheese smells like body odor.
I can't.
I think cheese is actually a really bizarre food, but Westerners are just used to it.
I mean, it's the coagulated liquid secretions of the mammary glands of mammals, variously aged and fermented.
It's about as bizarre as life generally is. I think nothing of it.
I've heard that our brain has a filter in place, which when removed leaves our psyches exposed to the onslaught of unimaginable Lovecraftian horrors, like cheese.
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 28, 2010, 07:50:04 PM
Quote from: Kiaransalee on September 28, 2010, 02:50:52 PM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on September 27, 2010, 07:01:52 PM
Natto is OK with white rice, and a bit of soy sauce. You can throw some egg into the hot rice, as well.
It takes several tries to get used to it, but if you eat it every morning it stops seeming so disgusting.
But I just don't understand why you would torture yourself. It's not like it's any healthier than other foods or anything like that. It doesn't cure cancer or anything...
I just have to ask Nigel WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? :x
:lulz:
I see questionable food as a personal challenge.
THIS
in other news my local supermarket has started selling japanese foods. :happy dance:
Quote from: Nast on October 03, 2010, 08:35:18 AM
I've heard that our brain has a filter in place, which when removed leaves our psyches exposed to the onslaught of unimaginable Lovecraftian horrors, like cheese.
(http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/6844/purplecowthulhu.jpg) :lulz:
Quote from: Nast on October 03, 2010, 05:24:04 AM
I think cheese is actually a really bizarre food, but Westerners are just used to it.
I mean, it's the coagulated liquid secretions of the mammary glands of mammals, variously aged and fermented.
Mmm. This really got me wanting a grilled coagulated liquid secretions of the mammary glands of mammals sandwich.
Yesterday I asked for a cheese that is "footy and assy. No, more bitter and pungent than that" and my cheese dealer gave me "Liederkranz" which is like Limburger, but assier and more bitter. I git a cheese high.
The body does a funny thing with food. The first time we eat a weird new food, it doesn't seem like "food" and may be repugnant. but after you eat and digest it a couple of times, your body recognizes it as food, and therefore appetizing.
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on October 05, 2010, 08:13:38 AM
Yesterday I asked for a cheese that is "footy and assy. No, more bitter and pungent than that" and my cheese dealer gave me "Liederkranz" which is like Limburger, but assier and more bitter. I git a cheese high.
The body does a funny thing with food. The first time we eat a weird new food, it doesn't seem like "food" and may be repugnant. but after you eat and digest it a couple of times, your body recognizes it as food, and therefore appetizing.
Beer is like cheese.
Now I want both in my mouth NAO
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on October 05, 2010, 08:13:38 AM
"footy and assy"
:lulz:
Are you
sure those are the culinarily correct terms?
Quote from: Sir Coyote on October 06, 2010, 06:23:41 AM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on October 05, 2010, 08:13:38 AM
Yesterday I asked for a cheese that is "footy and assy. No, more bitter and pungent than that" and my cheese dealer gave me "Liederkranz" which is like Limburger, but assier and more bitter. I git a cheese high.
The body does a funny thing with food. The first time we eat a weird new food, it doesn't seem like "food" and may be repugnant. but after you eat and digest it a couple of times, your body recognizes it as food, and therefore appetizing.
Beer is like cheese.
Now I want both in my mouth NAO
NOM
When I walked to the store earlier for wine, I couldn't resist getting a wee tiny wedge of blue cheese. I'm hoping that the cheese rush I get from it will help me sleep despite the wine, which usually keeps me up.
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on October 06, 2010, 06:28:38 AM
Quote from: Sir Coyote on October 06, 2010, 06:23:41 AM
Quote from: The Lord and Lady Omnibus Fuck on October 05, 2010, 08:13:38 AM
Yesterday I asked for a cheese that is "footy and assy. No, more bitter and pungent than that" and my cheese dealer gave me "Liederkranz" which is like Limburger, but assier and more bitter. I git a cheese high.
The body does a funny thing with food. The first time we eat a weird new food, it doesn't seem like "food" and may be repugnant. but after you eat and digest it a couple of times, your body recognizes it as food, and therefore appetizing.
Beer is like cheese.
Now I want both in my mouth NAO
NOM
When I walked to the store earlier for wine, I couldn't resist getting a wee tiny wedge of blue cheese. I'm hoping that the cheese rush I get from it will help me sleep despite the wine, which usually keeps me up.
I cannot go to the grocery store unaccompanied or I will blow my money on fancy cheeses and beer. :cry:
Quote from: Nast on October 06, 2010, 06:30:28 AM
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
I wish this worked on me. No amount of cheese and wine give me weird dreams.
I have crazy dreams anyway...
Quote from: Sigmatic on October 06, 2010, 07:14:37 AM
Quote from: Nast on October 06, 2010, 06:30:28 AM
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
I wish this worked on me. No amount of cheese and wine give me weird dreams.
Try going to bed with a nicotine patch on. If you don't smoke, use a 7mg patch.
Quote from: Jerry_Frankster on October 15, 2010, 10:37:21 PM
Quote from: Sigmatic on October 06, 2010, 07:14:37 AM
Quote from: Nast on October 06, 2010, 06:30:28 AM
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
I wish this worked on me. No amount of cheese and wine give me weird dreams.
Try going to bed with a nicotine patch on. If you don't smoke, use a 7mg patch.
That just reminds me of Coffee and Cigarettes.
"Sometimes I like to drink a lot of coffee before I go to sleep, because it makes my dreams go really fast"
Except that it doesnt work that way, at least not for me. I just have incredibly disturbing dreams and bouts of sleep paralysis when I try to jar myself awake.
Oh, and every once in a while I LIKE to eat natto... couldn't do it every day, but its really not that bad. I like to chase it with a bit of wasabi.
Quote from: Sigmatic on October 06, 2010, 07:14:37 AM
Quote from: Nast on October 06, 2010, 06:30:28 AM
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
I wish this worked on me. No amount of cheese and wine give me weird dreams.
I get weird dreams after eating Cadbury chocolate- only takes a square or two 10 minutes before I go to bed.
Quote from: Sigmatic on October 06, 2010, 07:14:37 AM
Quote from: Nast on October 06, 2010, 06:30:28 AM
But now you're going to have craaaaazy cheese dreams!
I wish this worked on me. No amount of cheese and wine give me weird dreams.
Fancy smelly cheese + fancy wine gave me a miniature asthma attack in the middle of the night, but no dreams.
Not much of a wine person, but I'll gobble all the stinky foot cheese I can stomach. Which is a lot.
Natto is beginning to grow on me. I had it on top of rice with dinner tonight and it wasn't totally unappetizing! In terms of condiments, I like it with spicy Chinese mustard. But it also needs something quite salty, I feel, to perk up the flavor - tamari rather than the regular soy sauce, in this case.
I found a recipes for natto spring rolls and the combination of the viscous natto with crisp lettuces sounds oddly appealing. I'll have to try it one of these days.
I am impressed with your natto staying power.