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

purchased in July 1983 in Tokyo. Black and white on orange
background. Paperboard box. Surprisingly, no ingredients are
listed on the package. However the ingredients are probably
water, soybeans, natto starter (Bacillus subtilis), rice (made
into koji using Aspergillus oryzae mold culture), and salt.
The front panel reads: Upper left, 4 small Chinese
characters: Registered trademark (tôroku shôhyô). Down
left side, 4 large bold Chinese characters: Yukiwari Natto
(“snow-breaking natto”). Down upper right, 4 mediumsize
Chinese characters: Flavored / seasoned natto (ajitsuke
nattô). Down far right, many small Chinese characters:
Use yukiwari natto at breakfast, or it can be your evening
drink companion (Asa no shokuzen. Yûbe no shuseki ni
Yukiwari Natto). Lower right, 6 medium size characters:
Special product of the Michinoku area [Yamagata prefecture,
northeast prefectures (Tohoku Chiho), Japan] (Michinoku
tokusan). Across the bottom, in many small characters is the
name of the manufacturer, Maruyone Shokuhin...
The back panel reads: Taste of Michino-ku, Yukiwari
Nattô.
The simple taste of Yukiwari Nattô is delicious and
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 312
makes you ask for more. It has a one-month shelf life even
in summer because, after removing the hard to digest outer
hulls of soybeans to make it into nattô, we then add kôji and
salt and ferment it for a long time. Since this natural food
has no artifi cial coloring nor additives, it can be enjoyed
by anyone from young kids to seniors–or your husband’s
drinking companion.
How to eat it:
1. It is already seasoned. You can eat it over freshly
cooked rice without adding any shoyu.
2. Add a little bit of graded daikon, chopped green
onion (negi), and wasabi or karashi mustard (a mixture of
ground mustard seeds and horseradish; hotter than European
mustard) to make it even tastier. If you have a sweet palate,
please be sure to mix in graded daikon.
3. Mix with egg yolk, seven-spice red pepper (shichimi
togarashi), and/or bonita fl akes to make a side dish for your
drink.
4. Grind well in your suribachi (traditional mortar), add
some water and cook it in a pot, then just before it comes to
a boil, sprinkle in some fresh vegetables to make an instant
natto soup (nattô-jiru).
5. Serve it over a rice in a bowl, sprinkle on some nori,
and add boiling hot bancha tea to make delicious ochazuke.
6. Add a bit of sugar and butter, then and mash it. Spread
it on mochi or bread. It becomes a Japanese-style cheese-like
food and this unusual sandwich will be enjoyed by kids.
Yukiwari Nattô is a Natural Food. Some white spots
found in the polyester bag during storing, it is not a mold.
It is called tyrosine (chiroshin), a type of amino acid so you
can eat it safely.
Note: Ohta (1975, p. 228) says that Goto Natto, which
appeared in the early 1600s, is the ancestor of Yukiwari
natto; it appeared as a special / famous product (meibutsu) of
Yamagata prefecture, Yonezawa-Chiho.
967. Norin Suisan-sho, Nosan Engei Kyoku, Hatasaku
Shinko-ka. 1983. Daizu ni kansuru shiryo [Statistics
concerning soybeans]. Tokyo, Japan. 157 p. 26 cm. [Jap]
• Summary: This yearly report, published by Japan’s
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), is
packed with detailed statistics on soybean production, trade,
and utilization in Japan. The table on p. 129 gives statistics
on miso production, shipments, and use of raw materials by
prefecture and for Japan as a whole. In 1981 Japan produced
575,782 tonnes of miso and shipped 578,610 tonnes.
Raw materials used were 14,417 tonnes of domestically
grown whole soybeans, 167,539 tonnes of imported whole
soybeans, 103,611 tonnes of polished rice, 24,667 tonnes of
polished barley, 476 tonnes of defatted soybean meal, 71,325
tonnes of salt, and 96 tonnes of cornmeal (used mainly in
Nagano and Hyogo prefectures). The top 5 miso producing
prefectures were Nagano (164,510 tonnes; 28.6% of Japan’s
total), Aichi (54,529), Niigata (38,156), Aomori (28,602),