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

a mound of chungkokjang. (9a) The front of a package of
Rusto’s Tempeh. (9b-c) Top view and side view of a cake of
tempe. The spaces between soybean cotyledons are packed
tightly with white mycelia of Rhizopus oligosporus. Address:
1. Genebank, National Inst. of Agrobiological Sciences,
Tsukuba, Japan; 2. Food Microbiology Lab., Sikkim
Government College, Sikkim Univ., Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
1908. Richmond, Simon. 2010. Lonely Planet Korea. 8th ed.
Footscray, Victoria, Australia; Oakland, California: Lonely
Planet. 440 p. See p. 188. Illust. (some color). Maps (some
color). Index. 20 cm.
• Summary: This is a guidebook to Korea. including North
Korea. 110 maps. “In the year 2000 the Korean government
adopted a new method of romaising the Korean language.
Most of the old romanisation system was retained. The new
system is used throughout this book (p. 411)
Ganjang (soy sauce) is mentioned on pages 68, 69, 70,
75, 178 and 188.
Page 188: In Gangwon-do, “Gangneung’s prized
specialty is sundubu, soft or uncurdled tofu [soymilk curds]
made with sea water in Chodang, the ‘tofu village.’ At its
plainest, sundubu is served warm in a bowl, with ganjang
(soy sauce) on the side. It can also be prepared in jjigae
(stew) or jeongol (casserole).”
In Chodang, there are about 20 restaurants, one of the
most well-known of which is Chodang Halmeoni.
Sundubu (soymilk curds or soft uncurdled tofu) is
mentioned on pages 72, 78, 186, 188 and 189.
Doenjang (fermented soybean paste) is mentioned on
pages 56, 68, 70, 78, 134, 188, 246, 257 (spelled twenjang)
and 346.
Doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) is mentioned on
pages 78, 134, 188, and 246.
Tofu (dubu) is mentioned on pages 70-74, 78, 127, 134,
136, 179, 188, 294, and 388.
Soft tofu is mentioned on pages 204, 257, 299.
1909. Sumi, Hiroyuki. 2010. Nattô wa kiku: kaimei sareta
nattô, pawaa no himitsu [Natto works: It has now been made
clear, natto is the secret to power]. Tokyo: Dainamikkuseraa
Zushuppan. 270 p. 19 cm. [Jap]*
1910. Tamang, Jyoti Prakash. 2010. Himalayan fermented
foods: Microbiology, nutrition, and ethnic values. Boca
Raton, Florida: CRC Press. xix + 295 p. See p. 65-78. 230-
31, 233. Illust. 25 cm. [584 ref]
• Summary: This is a very interesting, original, well
researched and well written book. It is also the best source
of detailed, well documented information on kinema and its
close relatives seen to date.
The word Sanskrit word Himalayas means literally
“abode of the snows.” This region is the home of over
65 million people. Those in the eastern Himalayas are of
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 583
Mongolian ethnicity and ancestry.
Chapter 3, titled “Fermented legumes,” includes a
section titled “3.1 Important fermented soybean foods”
which states (p. 65): “Some of the common ethnic nonsalted
sticky fermented soybean foods of the eastern Himalayas
are kinema (Nepal, Darjeeling hills, Sikkim, and South
Bhutan), hawaijar (Manipur), tungrymbai (Meghalaya; food
of the Khasi and Garo peoples), bekang (Mizoram; food of
the Mizo people), aakhone (also called axone, Nagaland;
food of the Sema Naga), and peruyyan (Arunachal Pradesh).
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal
Pradesh are small states in northeastern India.
All of these foods are similar to kinema.
Note: As a guide to the Seven Sister states of North East
India, we are including a color map of the area created for
Soyinfo Center - see front of book.
For all these six foods is given: The name of the food,
a close-up photo of the food, indigenous knowledge of
preparation, a fl ow chart showing the indigenous method
of making the food, culinary practices (how the food is
prepared / cooked and eaten), economy (its role in the local
economy), microorganisms (dominant and secondary).
Section 3.3 is “Microbiology” (of fermented legumes):
Kinema (microorganisms, source of inoculation in kinema
production optimization of fermentation period, in situ
fermentation of kinema, selection of starter culture,
monoculture fermentation of kinema, development of
pulverized starter for kinema production, phylogenetic
similarity of Bacillus strains from Asian fermented
soybeans), other fermented soybean foods of north east
India.
Section 3.4 is “Nutritive value” (table 3.1 compares the
nutritional composition of raw soybean and kinema). And
section 3.5 is “Conclusion.”
The long and very interesting section (9.1.1) on the
“Antiquity of kinema” (p. 230-34) states that it is a food
of the Kirat ethnic group (to which the Limboo belong)
of eastern Nepal. The origin of the word “kinema” can be
traced back to the word kinaba of the Limboo language (ki
= fermented; namba = fl avor). It is not clear whether kinema
appeared fi rst, then was disseminated and diversifi ed, or
vice versa. The Limboo believe that their discovery and
domestication of the soybean (which they named chembi) is
mentioned in one of their oral myths, as explained here.
Kinema is made by fermenting whole soybeans, without
inoculation, with strains of Bacillus subtilis bacteria. It is
alkaline in nature / pH, has a sticky, stringy texture and a
strong fl avor.
Natto is believed to have been introduced to Japan from
China during the Nara period around 710-714 AD (Ito et al.
1996; Kiuchi 2001). Kinema might have originated in east
Nepal around 600 B.C. to 100 A.D. during the Kirat dynasty.
Products closely resembling kinema are popular foods in
many non-Brahmin communities in the eastern Himalayas.