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

from natto Bacilli and Bacilli from natto-like fermented
foods of East Asia may reveal the origin and evolution
of natto Bacillus plasmid and may ultimately clarify the
history of dissemination of such fermentation technologies.”
Address: Kumamoto Kogyo Daigaku [Kyushu Univ.].
1181. Yoshida, Shuji. 1986. Minzokugaku kara mita muen
hakkô daizu to sono shûhen [The origin of non-salted
fermented soybeans from the viewpoint of ethnology]. In: Kô
Aida, et al. eds. 1986. Proceedings of the Asian Symposium
on Non-Salted Soybean Fermentation. Japan: Takeshima
Shigeru. 319 p. See p. 166-78. Held July 1985 at Tsukuba,
Japan. English-language summary in Symposium Abstracts,
p. 62-62. [20 ref. Jap]
• Summary: “Two of the earliest kinds of fermented
soybeans were shì and dòu-jiàng. The former antedates the
latter, because shì can be traced to the Han Dynasty (206
BC-A.D. 200), whereas dòu-jiàng does not emerge until
the description in Qimin Yaoshu (A.D. 536-550). Good
descriptions of shì and dòu-jiàng are given in Qimin Yaoshu.
Shì is made as follows: A yellow mold is permitted to grow
on boiled beans, which are then washed and wetted, after
which they are fermented in a cellar for 10-12 days. Shì was
eaten as a condiment.
“However, shì as a food would have appeared prior to
shì as a condiment. Sake which was made from grain through
mold fermentation, was originally not for drinking, but rather
for eating. Such a primitive Sake is still used in Yúnnán.
I suppose that a primitive shì also was eaten, and that the
place of origin of shì was South China, according to the
description in Bencao Gangmu (shì was commonly made in
South China), and Bówùzhì (shì was exotic).
“Dòu-jiàng, which may have been fi rst mentioned
in Bencao Gangmu (1596), was a simple mold bean and
was technologically more primitive than shì, although the
existence of dòu-jiàng or a similar substance cannot be
traced in the literature before Qimin Yaoshu. It seems that
the fi rst product of fermented beans would be dòu-jiàng, or
a similar substance, and that its making would have been
infl uenced by sake production. Later, shì as a food would
have appeared and then shì as a condiment was produced, as
we see from the Qimin Yaoshu.
“On the other hand, dòu-jiàng was developed from ròujiáng,
preserved meat... Natto, kinema and tempeh would be
identifi ed as a substance similar to dòu-jiàng, which was a
primitive fermented soybean product. Boiled beans became
dòu-jiàng if they were covered by Imperata cylindrica grass,
kinema if covered by certain leaves, tempeh if covered by
leaves of Hibiscus tiliaceus or banana leaves, and natto if
covered by ricestraw.
“We know that various kinds of plants are used for
making sake or mold bran. The species used varies by place.
Fermented soybeans occur within the sake-making area and
only at the margin of the distribution. That means several
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 371
new fermented soybean products like shì and dòu-jiàng were
made in the center of the fermented soybean distribution, and
the area gradually expanded toward the margins. They were
accepted in areas close to the center, but the most primitive
forms would have remained only in the marginal places,
where new ones were not accepted.”
A large chart (p. 169) shows the relatives and
development of fermented black soybeans (shi); it includes
the names of various unsalted fermented soyfoods and soy
condiments (with their geographical area in parentheses).
Relatives (fermented soyfoods made from yellow soybeans):
Akuni (Sema Naga, in the Himalayas in northeast India),
kinema (Limbu, in eastern Nepal), pe-bout (Shan, in eastern
Burma), itohiki natto (Japan), and tempeh (Indonesia). Stage
1. Itohiki natto became Chon Kujjiang [perhaps chungkuk
jang, Korean-style natto] of the Zhanguo Warring States
period (475-221 BC) in China. Stage 2A: Unsalted fermented
black soybeans were originally used as a food, rather than
as a seasoning. To these unsalted fermented black soybeans,
koji was added to create homemade unsalted fermented black
soybeans (doushi, of China), Stage 2B: Salt was added to the
unsalted fermented black soybeans to make various salted
foods (each with a fi rm texture like raisins): Daitokuji natto
(Japan; with wheat fl our added), pe-ngapi (upper Burma),
and seang (Cambodia). Stage 3. Unsalted fermented black
soybeans (doushi) developed into closely related danshi. Koji
was added to danshi to make rul-kre (of Bhutan). Cooked
soybeans were shaped into balls and fermented naturally
to make miso-dama (“unsalted miso balls” [meju], Korea
and Japan). Then salt was added to the miso-dama to make
various seasonings (each with a consistency like applesauce
or paste / miso): Korean soybean jang (doen jang), Korean
soy sauce (kan jang), or soybean miso (mamé miso, Hatcho
miso, Japan). Stage 4. Salt was added to unsalted fermented
black soybeans (shi) to make salted fermented black
soybeans, from which developed inyu (a fermented soy
sauce made with black soy beans, in Taiwan), inshi (meaning
unclear, of Taiwan), and taucho (tauco, of Indonesia). Stage
5. Koji was added to salted fermented black soybeans to
make shi for food use, and doushi (of Sichuan, China).
Stage 6. Flour was added to salted fermented black soybeans
to make red pepper jang (kochu jang, Korea) and spicy
fermented black soybeans (doubanshi, China).
Note: This chart may be easier to understand when
viewed in chart form, however the logic and some of
the products seem a bit unclear. It is also unclear which
products are fermented with bacteria (like natto). Soyfoods
Center has an English-language translation of this chart.
Address: National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka (Kokuritsu
Minzokugaku Hakubutsukan).
1182. Ichishima, E.; Takada, Y.; Taira, K.; Takeuchi, M.
1986. Specifi cities of extracellular and ribosimal serine
proteinases from Bacillus natto, a food microorganism.