History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

lowest rate.
“In an international survey of 24 countries, the decline in
the death rate for stomach cancer in recent years was found
to be closely correlated to milk consumption.” Address:
Epidemiology Div., National Cancer Center Research Inst.,
Tsukiji 5-1-1, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 104.
574. Korean Society of Food Science and Technology. 1971.
Comprehensive review of the literature on Korean foods
(1917-1968). Seoul, South Korea: 71 p. *
Address: Korea.
575. Kusano, Aiko. 1971. Nattô seizô katei ni okeru daizu
tanpaku no henka. II. TCA kayôsei kubun ni okeru zen
amino-san, yûri amino-san pepuchido-tai amino-san ni tsuite
[Changes in soybean protein during natto production. II.
On the TCA soluble total and free amino acids in the TCA
soluble fraction]. Eiyo to Shokuryo (J. of Japanese Society of
Food and Nutrition) 24(1):8-12. (Chem. Abst. 75:87257). [4
ref. Jap]
Address: Faculty of Pedagogy, Gifu Univ., Nagara Gifu City,
Japan.
576. Tsuji, Kaichi. 1971. Kaiseki: Zen tastes in Japanese
cooking. Tokyo and Palo Alto: Kodansha International Ltd.
207 p. With 96 color plates. Original woodcuts by Masakazu
Kuwata. 29 cm.
• Summary: Contents: Foreword by Yasunari Kawabata
(winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1968). Foreword:
The tea ceremony and kaiseki by Sôshitsu Sen (head of the
Urasenke School of Tea and the 15th generation descendent
of Sen no Rikyu, founder of the school). Utensils and
Kaiseki by Seizô Hayashiya (chief curator of the Ceramics
Department at the Tokyo National Museum). The twelve
months of kaiseki. The kaiseki courses (defi nes and describes
each course, such as Mukôzuke, Misoshiru [pages 168-71
give a fi ne description of miso and miso soup], Wanmori,
Yakimono, Azukebachi, Hassun, etc.). Postscript. Notes on
utensils. List of recipes. Glossary: Includes descriptions
of miso, natto (incl. Daitokuji-nattô, p. 66), shoyu, tofu,
and yuba, plus azuki and Dainagon-azuki, many types of
wheat gluten (fu), kuzu, mochi, sea vegetables (konbu, nori,
wakame), fresh-water algae (Kamogawa-nori, Suizenji-nori
{= Kotobuki-nori}), and umeboshi.
This is a magnifi cent, beautiful book, the fi nest work
available on Japan’s highest form of haute cuisine, Tea
Ceremony Cuisine, by a great Japanese Kaiseki chef. It
was fi rst published in Japanese by Tan-kôsha Inc. of Kyoto.
Soyfoods are used throughout the book–especially miso,
since one of the fi xed courses in a kaiseki meal is miso
soup (misoshiru). Many recipes use soy sauce, often the
light colored type, usukuchi. Most recipes are shown in
an accompanying full-color photo. The tea ceremony was
developed at the court of the shogun in late Ashikaga times
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 194
under such men as Soami, and his father and grandfather,
Geiami (1431-1485) and Noami, who were painters,
landscape gardeners, and poets in Kyoto. The greatest of the
tea masters, under whom the tea ceremony (chanoyu) took
fi nal shape, was Sen no Rikyu (1521-1591). Zen preached
the importance of the simple, uncluttered life. As a Zen priest
and tea instructor, “Rikyu believed that amid the solitude of
calm withdrawal from worldly cares sought by those who
practice chanoyu, there should exist an element of creativity
that leads to the serene enjoyment of beauty. The heart of
this creativity, according to Rikyu’s Zen aesthetics, lies in the
careful avoidance of the trite, the obvious, and the emphatic.
Beauty has its most powerful effects when it arises from
suggestion and restraint...
“Centuries ago, it was a rule that Zen priests ate only
two regular meals a day–morning and noon. But since the
priests engaged in rather strenuous work, by evening they
were often hungry, and to assuage this hunger they would
eat a light meal, which was called yakuseki (‘hot stones’).
This term came from the practice of putting heated stones
inside their clothing, by which the priests staved off hunger
and cold during long sessions of meditation. When the tea
masters developed the custom of serving a meal during the
tea ceremony, they called it kaiseki (‘breast stones’). By
evoking the image used in the Zen term, they seasoned their
specialty with religious connotations.”
Soy-related recipes include: Miso soup (with aonorifu,
azuki beans, and mustard, p. 29, plate 1, at Opening, the fi rst
of the 12 kaiseki months). Miso soup (with sesame custard,
ginkgo nuts, and mustard), and Mukôzuke (with yuba and
bonito fl akes, p. 41, plate 9, at Evening). Miso soup (with
wakanafu, kampyo [kanpyo], and mustard), and Azukebachi
(hot dish, with sea cucumbers boiled in saké and mirin,
boiled yuba, citron peel garnish, p. 53, plate 17 & 22, at
New Year’s). Miso soup (with Sanshu miso, roasted momen
bean curd [grilled tofu], and black [soy] beans), and Hassun
(with natto wrapped in sea bream fi llets, and miso-pickled
chisha stems, p. 65-66, plate 25 & 31, at Spring). Miso soup
(with icicle radish, temarifu, and mustard), and Azukebachi
(hot dish, with octopus boiled in saké, and yuba, garnished
with Japanese pepper, p. 77, plate 33 & 36, at Doll Festival).
Miso soup (with yuba, warabi fern shoots, and mustard, p.
89, plate 41, at Flower Viewing). Miso soup (with walnut
custard, trefoil, and mustard, p. 101, plate 49, at Brazier).
Miso soup (with eggplants, bamboo shoots, and mustard)
and Wanmori (abalone and bean curd custard, chisa leaves [a
variety of lettuce], and grated ginger, p. 113, plate 57 & 59,
at Off Season). Miso soup (with Sanshu miso, shiratamako,
junsai) and Wanmori (with yuba and egg custard, asauri,
and wasabi, p. 125, plate 65 & 68, at Morning). Miso soup
(with Sendai and Sanshu-miso, koimo, and hojiso), and
Yakimono (with deep-fried eggplant slices coated with white
miso and broiled), and Hassun (broiled burdock wrapped in
yuba, and deep-fried green peppers, p. 137-38, plate 73 &