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

developments. Letter to William Shurtleff at Soyfoods
Center, April 11. 1 p. Typed, with signature on letterhead. [2
ref]
• Summary: “Thanks so much for the new edition Book
of Tempeh... Things are quiet here. Gordon is teaching
microbiology at College of the Redwoods and we hope to
teach the Soyfoods Workshop next semester. Penny Billiter
of Star Soyfoods, Sandpoint, Idaho, was our student. Before
the Workshop she hadn’t even heard of tempeh, just tofu. She
came over just before leaving town to spend a day of intense
note taking and talking and a month later was selling tofu
pudding to Safeway!
“I’ve enclosed our most recent catalog. Since we have
20+ of the fi rst Book of Tempeh we’ll keep with it for now.
“I’m now selling tempeh on a special order basis to local
restaurants. Koji, rice and barley, goes to coops on the same
basis. I even had a special order for natto!
“Hope all is well with you. You’ve obviously been very
busy as always! Best regards,...” Address: GEM Cultures,
30301 Sherwood Rd., Fort Bragg, California 95437. Phone:
707-964-2922.
1081. American Type Culture Collection Quarterly
Newsletter.1985. Fermented black beans–Important
ingredient in Chinese cooking. April. p. 9. [2 ref]
• Summary: Gives a recipe for making Hamanatto using
whole black beans [presumably soybeans] and Aspergillus
oryzae. “Hamanatto, which resembles raisins in appearance,
is much more palatable to people from Western countries
[than itohiki natto]. It is also sometimes referred to as dowsi,
taosi, or dou shih.” Yukiwari-natto is made using both
Aspergillus oryzae (in a rice koji) and Bacillus subtilis.
Note: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Nov. 2011) that uses the word dowsi to refer to
“fermented black soybeans.”
1082. Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko. 1985. Soyfoods
industry and market: Directory and databook 1985. 5th
ed. Lafayette, California: Soyfoods Center. 220 p. Index.
April. 28 cm. Updated every 1-3 years with a bibliographic
supplement. [360 ref]
• Summary: Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Directory of
soyfoods manufacturers. 3. Directory of soyfoods support
industry: Goods & services. 4. The many types of soyfoods.
5. Historical: Historically most important books and serials,
earliest references to individual soyfoods. 6. Year in review.
7. Soyfoods industry and market in the U.S. 8. Tofu industry
and market in the U.S. and Canada. 9. Soymilk industry and
market: Worldwide and in the U.S. 10. Tempeh industry and
market in the U.S. 11. Soy sauce industry and market in the
U.S. and Japan. 12. Miso industry and market in the U.S. and
Japan. 13. Soynut industry and market in the U.S. 14. Natto
industry and market in Japan. 15. Statistics on fermented
soyfoods in East Asia. 16. Soyfoods in restaurants, delis &
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 346
cafeterias. 17. Soybean crushing industry in the U.S. 18. Soy
oil industry and market in the U.S. 19. Soy fl our and cerealsoy
blends industry and market worldwide. 20. Modern
soy protein products industry and market in the U.S. 21.
Soyfoods terminology and standards. 22. Names of soyfoods
in major foreign languages (incl. Chinese / pinyin; Hoisin
sauce = haixian jiang). 23. Soybean production worldwide
and country-by-country. 24. Key institutions working with
soyfoods worldwide. 25. Measures, weights, and equivalents.
26. About the Soyfoods Center & soyfoods consulting
services. 27. Bibliography.
In February 1977 a Gallup poll in America showed a
remarkable shift in the public’s awareness of and attitudes
toward soyfoods. The sampling of 1,543 adults across the
nation found that: 33% believe that soybeans will be the
most important source of protein in the future–ahead of fi sh
at 24% and meat at 21%. 55% believe that “soy products
have a nutritional value equal or superior to that of meat.”
54% reported that they “had eaten foods containing soy
protein as a prime ingredient within the past 12 months.”
Younger age groups living in large cities and those with
college or university educations had the most favorable
attitudes toward soy protein, indicating that support for
soyfoods is likely to grow in the future. Address: Soyfoods
Center, P.O. Box 234, Lafayette, California 94549.
1083. Karki, Tika. 1985. Re: Kinema in Nepal. Letter to
William Shurtleff at Soyfoods Center, May 20. 1 p. Typed,
with signature on letterhead.
• Summary: “’Kinema’ is a soybean fermented product
popularly consumed by the Kirat ethnic group of Nepal.
They are inhabitants of the eastern hills. Kinema is also
popular in Darjeeling (Nepal), as well as in neighboring
Sikkim and Bhutan. The method of preparation and
consumption pattern are very similar.
“At the moment I am working on ‘Microbiology of
kinema.’ I will send you the report as soon as it is ready. We
are also studying the Kinema of Darjeeling. Our preliminary
investigation indicates that there is a close resemblance
between tuanao [of Thailand] and Kinema. In Nepal, Kinema
is consumed in the form of vegetable soup either singly
or mixed with other green leafy vegetables. A typical fl ow
diagram for making Kinema is attached.
It shows: Washing soybeans. Soaking overnight.
Boiling. Cracking (by wooden pestle & mortar and adding
a little ash). Packing (in bamboo basket known as Dalo
in Nepali, surrounded and covered by banana leaves).
Fermentation (24 hours). Drying in the sun. Kinema. Stored.
Note: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Jan. 2012) that uses the term “tuanao” (one word)
to refer to thua-nao. Address: Central Food Research
Lab., Quality Control and Standardization Div., Ministry
of Agriculture, Babar Mahal, Kathmandu, Nepal. Phone:
12781.