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

discusses soy sauce, konbu and nori seaweeds, sesame seed
paste (atari-goma; “Most Americans may be more familiar
with the Middle Eastern version called tahini paste... Used
in making salad dressings and dips”), miso, and sesame
seeds. Soy-related recipes include: Grilled tofu with miso
(Dengaku; p. 37). Sesame tofu (p. 38; no soy). Tuna sashimi
and green onions with miso (p. 40). Daikon radish with
lemon miso (p. 42). Caulifl ower fl orets with miso (p. 42).
Basic miso soup (p. 51). Clam miso soup (p. 51). Daikon
radish miso soup (p. 52). Vegetable and chicken miso soup
(p. 52). Tofu and wakame seaweed suimono (p. 53). Fried
rice with tofu and vegetables (p. 89).
Chapter 7, titled “Tofu & egg dishes” includes (p.
103-17): Tofu in Kamakura. Description of different types
of tofu: Silken, fi rm, grilled, pouches, deep-fried, fritters
(ganmodoki), freeze-dried (koya-dofu), how to press tofu.
Chilled tofu with ginger sauce. Braised koya-dofu with pea
pods. Cold-day tofu. Vegetarian “chicken” tofu (with frozen
tofu). Dragon’s head (hiryozu). Tofu from the sea (Kenchinmushi).
Tofu gratinée. Stuffed tofu. Scrambled tofu. Tofu
treasure bags. Vegetarian “burger.” Egg tofu delight (tamagodofu;
no soy).
Beans for breakfast (natto; p. 125). Braised konbu
seaweed, soybeans, and konnyaku (p. 128). Hijiki seaweed
with tofu (p. 129). Stuffed tofu sushi (Inari-zushi; p.
157). Snapper tempura with asparagus and miso (p. 174).
Marinated cod in miso sauce (p. 179). Seaweed, chicken, and
vegetables with creamy miso (p. 185). Steak miso (p. 190).
Sukiyaki (p. 206). Shabu shabu (p. 208). Vegetarian nabe
(with tofu, p. 211). Sea and mountain (with miso sauce, p.
212-23). Winter nabe (with tofu, p. 214). Udon-suki (with
tofu, p. 216). Tofu apple cake (p. 244). Chapter 15 (p. 260-
71) is menu plans, by season and time of day.
The glossary (p. 272-82) includes: Agar-agar, azuki
beans, konbu seaweed, kuzu, miso paste, nori seaweed, rice
cakes (mochi), sesame seed oil, sesame seeds, soybeans–
fermented (natto), soy sauce, tofu, tonkatsu sauce (with
dark soy sauce), wakame seaweed. Address: Los Angeles,
California.
1194. Odunfa, S.A. 1986. Dawadawa. In: N.R. Reddy, M.D.
Pierson, and D.K. Salunkhe, eds. 1986. Legume-Based
Fermented Foods. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. [viii] + 254
p. See p. 173-189. Chap. 11. [63 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction: Quantity produced,
consumption patterns. Method of preparation: Raw materials,
commercial preparation of dawadawa, postfermentation
treatment, upgrading production technology. Microbiological
and physico-chemical changes during fermentation:
Microorganisms, physico-chemical changes. Nutritional
composition and quality. Toxicological aspects. Conclusions
and future research needs. Dawadawa is the Hausa name for
the fermented African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) It is
an important condiment in the entire savanna region of West
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 375
and Central Africa. Countries where dawadawa is important
include the northern regions of Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin,
Chad, Sierra Leone, Upper Volta, Gambia, Cameroon, Ivory
Coast, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and the semi-desert country of
Niger.
Dawadawa is also know as iru in Yoruba (spoken in
southwestern Nigeria), as ogiri-igala in Ibo (spoken in
southeastern Nigeria), “as kpalugu among the Kusasis and
Dagombas of Northern Ghana, as kinda in Sierra Leone, and
as netetou or as soumbara in Gambia.”
More than 100 million people living in West Africa use
dawadawa as a foodstuff. Cobley and Steel (1976) estimated
that 200,000 tons per year of African locust beans are
gathered in northern Nigeria alone, from the trees on which
they grow. In addition, large amounts are produced in the
savanna regions of Oyo and Kwara states in southwestern
Nigeria. Some of the beans collected in northern Nigeria are
sold to the Yorubas or Ibos of southern Nigeria, where half
the area is rain forest so that there is a shortage of locust
beans.
Each locust bean tree yields approximately 25 to 52 kg
of pods from which 6 to 13 kg of beans may be obtained.
About 250,000 tons of locust beans are produced, from
which about 170,000 tons of dawadawa are made.
“In place of locust bean seeds, local varieties of
soybeans are used as a substitute to make dawadawa in the
Benue and Plateau states of Nigeria” (p. 175).
Although dawadawa is used mainly as a fl avoring, it
also contributes to the protein and calorie intake.
To make soybean dawadawa, soybeans are fi rst fried
until they are brown in color. Then they are ground to
remove the seed coat (testa). The dehulled soybeans are
boiled in water for 3 hours, then drained using a calabash
sieve and spread in a basket lined with leaves. Previously
fermented soybean dawadawa is added to the basket
and mixed with the cooked soybeans. The basket is then
covered with the same leaves used to line the basket. The
covered basket is placed in a warm place for 2-3 days for
fermentation. The fermented soybeans are sun-dried then
pounded to a fi ne powder (p. 179). Address: Dep. of Botany,
Univ. of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
1195. Ohta, Teruo. 1986. Natto. In: N.R. Reddy, M.D.
Pierson, and D.K. Salunkhe, eds. 1986. Legume-Based
Fermented Foods. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. [viii] + 254
p. See p. 85-93. Chap. 5. [25 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction: Types of natto,
production and consumption. Method of preparation: raw
materials, preparation of itohiki natto (soaking and cooking
of soybeans, inoculation and packaging, fermentation,
maturation and stabilization), preparation of yukiwari natto
and hama-natto, fermentation microorganisms. Composition
and physical properties: Chemical composition, physical
properties (mucous material, spots on natto, organoleptic