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

mainly for use by the American Soybean Association offi ce
in Tokyo. Address: 1. Division Director for Asia; 2. Country
Director for Japan. Both: American Soybean Assoc.
1424. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1992. Nattô no seizôhô.
Kikkôman (KK) ga shutsugan. Tokkyo shutsugan shôroku
[How to make natto: Kikkoman applied for a patent. Details
of the patent application]. Dec. 1. p. 12. [Jap]
• Summary: A long and detailed article.
1425. McCloud, Tina. 1992. Natto: A breakfast dish that’s an
acquired taste. Press (Newport News, Virginia). Dec. 7.
• Summary: “It’s the color and consistency of pork and
beans, but sticks together like stretched chewing gum.”
The owner of two Japanese restaurants in Newport News,
Mr. K. Nishikawa, notes that “nibbling natto seems a pretty
disagreeable way to start the day. Unembellished natto has
‘no fl avor and smells funny.’” He imports the fermented
soybean product frozen from Japan. The key lies in the
seasoning. In northern Japan, natto is widely eaten as a
breakfast food, served over steamed rice and mixed with
mustard and soy sauce. Some people mix in onions and raw
egg. The sushi chef at one of Mr. Nishikawa’s restaurants
serves natto in sushi.
1426. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1992. Nattô to tenpe wa
kyôzon dekiru ka? [Can natto and tempeh coexist?]. Dec. 11.
p. 7. [Jap]
• Summary: The bacterial culture used in the natto
fermentation can cause spoilage problems if it gets into
tempeh cultures–and it can get in quite easily unless strictly
controlled.
1427. Arocena, Javier. 1992. [Re: Recent developments at
Zuaitzo]. Letter to William Shurtleff at Soyfoods Center,
Dec. 14. 2 p. Typed, with signature on letterhead. [Spa;
eng+]
• Summary: In June 1988 he moved his company to Plaza
Santa Maria, 01001 Vitoria-Gasteiz. He knows of three other
soyfoods manufacturers in Spain: Natur-Soy, Vegetalia, and
La Sojeria, all near Barcelona.
“I was a pioneer in the production of tofu and seitan in
Spain but for the last 12 years I have kept on doing the same
thing, working only at the family level, making little but
doing it well.
“Now we are living in the country at Villanueva Tobera,
09214 Condado de Treviño (Burgos), Spain... about 25 km
from Vitoria-Gasteiz.
“As of today, our plans are not to increase our work
with tofu and tempeh derivatives, but rather to develop
new products, above all the full gamut of fermented soy
products... such as miso, tamari, natto, and amazake.” But
since he has diffi culty understanding English, he would like
to get Spanish-language publications. Address: Zuaitzo,
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 441
Villanueva Tobera, 09214 Condado de Treviño (Burgos),
Spain. Phone: 945/28 86 30.
1428. Ontario Soybean Growers’ Marketing Board. 1992.
Annual report. Box 1199, Chatham, ONT N7M 5L8, Canada.
24 p. 28 cm.
• Summary: This is a report for the year 1992. Contents:
Mission statement. Chairman’s message (Larry Miehls).
Secretary manager’s message (Fred Brandenburg, Dec.
1992). OSGMB summary of major activities in 1992.
Auditor’s report and balance sheet. 1992 soybean &
research funding (incl. breeding of soybeans for tofu and
natto). Ontario soybeans–supply and demand, 1989-1992.
Soybeans: Area, production and farm value, by county, 1991,
with provincial totals [including county and district totals],
1986-1991. Ontario marketings, 1989-91. Ontario soybeans:
Production, crushings, imports, exports. 1991 crop year
marketing by county. Ontario soybean exports by destination
in metric tons. Soybean meal: Canadian imports and exports.
Soybean oil: Canadian imports and exports. Quality of the
1991 soybean crop by county (in terms of mean oil content
and mean protein content). Cash prices for Ontario soybeans
(1990-1992). Ontario basis values (cents over futures).
Weekly adjusted producer basis. Soybean supply and
demand, 1990-1992: USA, world. OSGMB appointments
for 1992 (offi cers and committees). 1992 district committee
members of soybean board. Address: Chatham, ONT,
Canada. Phone: 519-352-7730.
1429. Okada, Noriyuki. 1992. [Searching for thua-nao (2).
Isolation of vitamin B-12 producing bacteria]. Daizu Geppo
(Soybean Monthly News) 179:21-26. [Jap]*
1430. Buswell, Robert E., Jr. 1992. The Zen monastic
experience: Buddhist practice in contemporary Korea.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. xiii +
264 p. + [8] p. of plates. See p. 120-21. Illust. Index. 25 cm.
[190+* ref]
• Summary: The section titled “Meals” (p. 120-25) notes
that there are many similarities between the diet in the
monasteries and that in the homes of the local agricultural
peasants. “The major difference is that all meals served in the
monasteries are vegetarian [actually vegan]. The bodhisattva
precepts of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism forbid monks
from eating the fl esh of any sentient being.” Cereal grains
provide 70-80% of the caloric intake. “In addition to steamed
rice, meals always include some kind of soup (kuk)... The
soup is generally based on toenjang, a fermented bean paste
like Japanese miso and fl avored with soy sauce (kanjang)
and sesame salt.”
“Bean products constitute one of the largest components
of the monastic diet during all seasons. The basis of many
bean products is meju, a fermented bean paste somewhat
like the Japanese nattô [more like the Japanese miso-dama,