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

Bacillus subtilis) to try to make soy tempeh at three different
fermentation temperatures (29ºC, 34ºC, and 41ºC). At the
lower two temperatures, the tempeh came out very nicely,
but at the higher temperature the Bacillus predominated.
Manfred has not yet measured the vitamin B-12 content
of the three types of tempeh. One basic question arises: If
such an inoculum is used and grown on tempeh at 32-34ºC,
will the Bacillus eventually mutate so they grow well at the
lower temperature and take over the fermentation, ruining
the tempeh? For a case study of this type of problem, see
the following article, which describes a terrible problem
experienced by a tempeh manufacturer in 1982. Shurtleff,
William; McBride, G.; Robertson, G.V.J.; Burgeson, T. 1982.
“Dealing with tempeh contamination.” Soyfoods. Winter. p.
29-32. Address: Professor, Computer Sciences, 111 Overlook
Dr., Santa Cruz, California 95060. Phone: 831-425-0461 or
manfred@cs.ucsc.edu.
1644. Iijima, Akihiko; Sasaki, Hitoshi; Wakamatsu,
Hiroyuki; Watanabe, Sugio; Maeda, Yoshimi. 1999.
[Microcalorimetric analysis of fermentation of natto, a
traditional Japanese food]. Nippon Shokuhin Kagaku Kogaku
Kaishi (J. of the Japanese Society for Food Science and
Technology) 46(5):279-84. [13 ref. Jap; eng]
Address: 1-3, 5. Iwaki Meisei Univ., 5-5-1 Chuohdai-iino,
Iwaki-shi, Fukushima 970-8551.
1645. Matsumoto, Isao; Akimoto, Takashi; Imai, Seiichi.
1999. [Effect of soybean cooking condition on the quality
of natto]. Nippon Shokuhin Kagaku Kogaku Kaishi (J. of
the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology)
46(5):338-43. [19 ref. Jap; eng]
• Summary: Natto was prepared from soybeans cooked
under a steam pressure of 1.5 kg per square cm. for various
time periods ranging from 1 to 60 minutes, and sensory
evaluation, hardness, enzyme activities, components and
stringiness of viscous substances of natto samples were
investigated. From the results of sensory evaluation of natto
samples, it was concluded that the optimum cooking time
under this condition was 30-40 minutes. Address: Niigata
Food Research Institute, 2-25 Shinei-cho, Kamo-shi, Niigata
959-13, Japan.
1646. Schinner, Miyoko Nishimoto. 1999. Japanese cooking:
Contemporary & traditional–Simple, delicious, and vegan.
Summertown, Tennessee: Book Publishing Co. 176 p. Illust.
Index. 21 cm.
• Summary: Contents: Introduction (incl. Japanese attitudes
towards nutrition, vegetarianism and animal rights, the
recipes, the Japanese meal). Sample menus (by season).
Glossary: Ingredients, kitchen concepts, and tools. Rice
dishes. Soups and stews. Cooking with tofu. Fried dishes.
Salads and cold vegetables. Noodles. Meals in a pot. Stewed
and braised dishes. Meals in a bowl. Everyday favorites.
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 508
Nouvelle Japanese cuisine.
Terms in the Glossary include: Abura-age, agar agar,
atsu-age, azuki, fu (made from wheat gluten), goma
(sesame seeds), goma-dofu (a tofu-like cake made from
sesame butter), hijiki, Inari-zushi (sushi), kanten, konbu,
kuzu & kuzu-ko, miso, mochi, natto, nori, okara, sesame
oil (goma abura), shoyu, soba, soy sauce, tofu (“Perhaps
the most misunderstood food in Japan... Americans might
call it bland; the Japanese prefer to think of it as delicate in
fl avor”), umeboshi, wakame, yaki-dofu, yuba.
This vegan cookbook is fi lled with many soy-related
recipes, both traditional and new. Examples of new: “Fishy
Tempura Tempeh. Crispy Fried Tempeh (Kara-Age).
“Trying to dine out in a strictly vegan fashion in Japan
can present challenges. Although dairy products are not
found in traditional Japanese cuisine, fi sh-based stocks
appear in a range of dishes from appetizers to soups to
entrees... My advice to vegan or vegetarian visitors to Japan:
fi nd a temple or restaurant that serves traditional kaiseki-style
shojin-ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cooking)–and splurge big
time. You won’t regret it” (p. 10).
On the rear cover is a biographical sketch of Miyoko.
“She was born in Yokohama, Japan, and graduated from
St. John’s college in Maryland. Her bilingual bicultural
background has endowed her with the creativity and
originality of the West and the aesthetic sense of the East.”
She has been a vegetarian since age 12. Address: Owner,
Now and Zen Bakery and Vegetarian Restaurant, San
Francisco.
1647. Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko. 1999. The book of
tofu. 2nd ed. Revised. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press.
336 p. May. Illust. by Akiko Aoyagi Shurtleff. Index. 28 cm.
[321 ref]
• Summary: This edition contains a completely new
“Appendix B–Directory of Tofu Makers” (p. 313-316,
updated to 1 Aug. 1998). The page “About the Authors”
(autobiographical) has been updated, and the original
photograph has been replaced with two more recent ones–
refl ecting the fact that Bill and Akiko separated in Nov. 1993
and their marriage ended in May 1995.
After the fi rst printing in Oct. 1998, the Preface was
quite extensively revised (but not updated) to include more
about how this book came into being (early dates and
names), including the important contributions on Jeffrey and
Gretchen Broadbent, and of Nahum and Beverly Stiskin.
These Preface changes fi rst appeared in the second printing
of May 1999.
On page 336 is “The Best of Vegetarian Cooking from
Ten Speed Press” (descriptions of eight cookbooks, with
price and ISBN). The inside rear cover has been updated,
and now includes current information about SoyaScan, the
unique computerized database produced by Soyfoods Center.
This database now contains more than 55,000 records from