RECIPE: Pesto Natto Ramen

April 01, 2020 by Ann Yonetani in Recipes

This delightful dish puts an Italian spin on Natto with a quick & easy prep!

All you need is about five minutes and a few ingredients:

Ingredients:

Ramen noodles (fresh or dry instant)
Pesto sauce
Natto

Directions:

Cook ramen in boiling water (2-3 mins depending on noodle type)
Drain noodles
Mix in pesto to taste
Top each serving with natto, also mixed with pesto

I garnished my bowl here with cherry tomatoes & microgreens. Parmesan, fresh herbs, or whatever else calls to you from your fridge may be wonderful too.

Now, please serve yourself a dish of natto, and let’s talk about the evidence for antimicrobial activity ...

For more recipes ways to eat natto visit our Natto Recipes page.

RECIPE: Natto Miso Soup

April 25, 2015 by Ann Yonetani in Recipes

In some parts of Japan, natto is often consumed in hot miso soup (natto-jiru) instead of rice. A typical Natto-Jiru is a hearty winter dish with origins in Yamagata prefecture in the northern mainland of Japan. It consists of a basic miso soup base, loaded with hearty vegetables (e.g. daikon radish, potatoes, carrots, shitake mushrooms), tofu and natto. Traditionally, the natto would be chopped or mashed into a paste before adding into the soup, which would then be boiled for some time before serving.

Should I Cook Natto?

To maximize the preservation of natto’s probiotic and other functional components like nattokinase enzymes, we generally recommend to try to avoid boiling or cooking natto extensively at high temperatures.

Adding natto to hot foods at the very end of cooking or just before serving will allow it to retain its full activity.

Miso soup is increasingly popular and easily available here in the US. Miso is an easy-to-use, savory soy-based broth base that can be used as a versatile alternative to meat or vegetable stock.

So here’s our easy modern spin on Natto-Jiru, a simple Natto Miso Soup. The earthy, nutty flavor of the natto is complemented nicely by the umami-rich flavor of the miso broth. When diluted into soup the sticky texture of the natto becomes barely noticeable. This is a definite bonus for those still acquiring a liking for neba-neba!

If you’re using an instant miso soup mix, no recipe is needed! Simply dissolve the miso soup components in hot water according to instructions and mix in a tablespoon of our fresh natto!

If you’re making natto from miso paste for the first time, here is a recipe—so simple, healthy & good!

Natto Miso Soup Recipe

Serves 1

On stovetop, bring ~1 cup of water /serving to boil, then reduce to simmer.
Into the water, dissolve 1-2 heaping tbsp. of miso paste/ serving or to taste. In Japan, a fish dashi-based broth is used instead of water to start; a dilute vegetable or chicken stock can also be used to deepen the soup’s flavor, but I find that miso alone works fine, especially with the richness of the added natto.
Typical fixings to add to a miso soup broth include diced tofu, wakame and scallions.
Divide soup into individual serving bowls and add ~1-2 tbsp. of natto.

For more recipes ways to eat natto visit our Natto Recipes page.

RECIPE: Natto on Rice

March 10, 2015 by Ann Yonetani in Recipes

The most typical, traditional Japanese way of serving natto: simply on a bowl of rice. The vast majority of Japanese consume natto as a quotidien meal in this way, with only some variation of add-on ingredients or condiments used.

How to Cook Japanese Rice

For typical Japanese-style rice, select a white ”short-grain”or “sushi” rice, using about 1 cup of dry rice for 2 servings. Cover the rice with water and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.
Wash rice, soak briefly, mix, drain & repeat with cold water in its cooking vessel until water runs clear. This removes excess pulverized starch left over from the rice polishing process which makes the rice stickier and less fluffy if not removed before cooking.
Add fresh water to the drained, rinsed rice (1:1, equal parts) and bring to a boil over medium heat. If you have an automatic rice cooker, simply start cooking and skip ahead to step 6.
Once boiling, cover pot, reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn off heat and allow rice to continue steaming for at least10 more minutes, covered (don’t open!)
Uncover and mix by gently scooping up from the bottom up to fluff rice.

Now the rice, natto’s bestie, is ready; next, we prepare the natto separately.

The special sticky nature of natto is so revered by Japanese natto fans, that the first step of prepping natto is to vigorously stir it to enhance this “neba-neba” quality!

In a small bowl, place your portion of natto (~3tbs /45g is a typical serving)
Add a small splash of soy sauce or gluten-free tamari to taste. Generally, another ingredient with some bite is added too - popular additions include: mustard, chopped scallions or shiso leaf, raw egg, or pickled umeboshi plum.
Quickly whip it with chopsticks or a fork in a circular motion, transforming the sticky sauce into a stretchy foam!
Scoop cooked, hot rice into a serving bowl & transfer the whipped natto mixture on top.
Enjoy a deeply authentic Japanese power breakfast dish! (of course, natto can be eaten as an easy meal or snack at any time of day or night, like a bowl of cereal)

How To Eat Natto Rice

Be warned, it’s goopy! Eating natto this way without getting some of its spider web strings everywhere takes some practice. It may be easier to use a spoon than chopsticks.

Some people like to mix the whole thing together; others like to keep the rice/natto more separated. Scooping the rice & natto up in pieces of nori seaweed is another handy way to consume natto rice. Old school natto rice is the dominant recipe for serving natto in Japan, but some alternative regional natto traditions exist.

For more recipes ways to eat natto visit our Natto Recipes page.