The KT reports that the “Japanese Wave” is taking root in Korea, and among the hit cultural items is natto. Which, I’ve got to say, I can’t stomach. Cheonggukjang? OK, it smells like a rotting corpse, but it’s yummy. But natto? I guess it’s an acquired taste.
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“Retail giant Shinsegae Department Store says Natto sales typically rise about 50 percent annually and that the soybean selection is just one of many Japanese varieties, including candy, ramen and soy sauce, it offers.”
Fermented soybean candy, why didn’t I ever think of that?
Fermented soybean candy, why didn’t I ever think of that?
Ha, you couldn’t get more creative than that. Oh wait…
Look for the UNDP to hold candlelight vigils over this. The left will attempt to persuade the new 2MB government to establish a “Ministry of Natto” to curb “subversive” Japanese cultural influence and cuisine.
They are desperate for an issue before the April general elections.
When you next visit a Sushi bar, try Natto-maki, which is a real macrobiotic food.
Robert, what kind of natto were you eating? In Japan, I had many natto experiences and ate a bunch of different types over two years… never had a problem… and I’m the guy who gags at pretty much anything smelly.
Research has shown natto to be extremely effective at preventing strokes.
My wife got me used to it by mixing it with grated daikon radish. Neutralizes many of the unpleasant characteristics. Now I eat it every day, considering it medicine.
You do know you’re supposed to eat it with rice and not by itself?
love the stuff. but i didn’t know it was such a big deal these days. i saw a documentary/advertorial on TV about a year ago. One lady ate it night and day and lost a ton of weight.
My wife grew up eating natto as a kid in Daegu. Admittedly, both her parents grew up in Japan, but she insists that natto has been not uncommon in Gyeongsan for decades.
When I lived in Japan, the Japanese were always teasing foreigners if they like natto, since many Japanese really don’t like the stuff. Besides having a weird texture, I have never thought it particularly distasteful. In time I came to really like it with soy sauce and a touch of mustard — particularly when eating any kind of raw fish dish.
And I do believe in the health benefits of the stuff. It’s pretty natural and I will take it over most of the (Chinese-made) kimchi one finds in Korean restaurants any day of the week.
In short, I think kimchi is way over-rated (talk about walking on the wild side by posting that statement in Korea!) and natto is greatly under-rated.
The left will attempt to persuade the new 2MB government to establish a “Ministry of Natto” to curb “subversive” Japanese cultural influence and cuisine.
#3. Keyser Soze: If it is from the so-called Left, it should be the “Ministry of NATO” as in “no action, talk only.” (Sorry, too easy of a target.)
Authentic natto, like any traditionally fermented soybean product, is healthful, but the little plastic frozen packages sold in Asian grocers in North America are sweetened with HFCS and flavored with MSG. If I’m going to eat processed junk, it had better taste good. A more healthful and flavorful alternative to natto is tempeh, available in almost any supermarket with a natural foods section. Lightlife organic tempeh is made with cultured soybeans, water, brown rice, and nothing else. Tempeh is versatile like tofu and adds a meat-like quality to dishes.
In my three years in Japan, I met a few Japanese who didn’t like it. For me, it was quite disgusting. I guess I didn’t go native enough.
Nato is tool of the Japanese imperialist action in Korea. Hideyoshi’s troops carried Nato beans into battle on Korean peninsula in the 16th century, and is one reason why Gyeongsang province remains a cesspool of japanese collaborators today.
Nato is a metaphor for the intransigence of Japanese imperialist intention to eliminate Korean peoples. Anyone who has eaten it-with or without the egg white-can testiment.
Tempe is similar attempt at extension of Javanese suzerainty’s of South east Asia during the Majapahit era and should likewise be eliminated from indigenous culinary cultures.
Fact-Nato Japanese.
Fact-Kimono is Japanese.
Fact-Long term consumers of Nato will wear Kimono.
Nato is tool of the Japanese imperialist action in Korea. Hideyoshi’s troops carried Nato beans into battle on Korean peninsula in the 16th century, and is one reason why Gyeongsang province remains a cesspool of japanese collaborators today.
Nato is a metaphor for the intransigence of Japanese imperialist intention to eliminate Korean peoples. Anyone who has eaten it-with or without the egg white-can testiment.
Tempe is similar attempt at extension of Javanese suzerainty’s of South east Asia during the Majapahit era and should likewise be eliminated from indigenous culinary cultures.
ROFLMAO!
i’m not sure why, but people from Kyong Sang Do are quite in love with anything and everything that comes from Japan, more than the avg Korean in other provinces.
I suspect this is because Busan port is where most of the import from Japan reaches South Korea, and Kyong Sang Do has thus been at the forefront of loving Made in Japan things since at least 1900. And in reality, dating back much earlier than that.
Lt. Okamoto was once said to be more Japanese than a real Japanese person.
i have eaten natto, but never in Korea. Only in the US, when a Japanese friend of mine introduced it to me. I ate it then, and if I closed my eyes, it was ok. Food is food. He was explaining to me about nattokinase and such, and I was impressed with how much research the Japanese put into proving why this is good for you.
to me, Kimchi was a food Koreans somehow came up with to eat during lean winter times, in order to survive. I’ve read here and there that it provides Vit B12, but I’m not sure what I read is proof or even valid. Or even hocus pocus. Vit B12 should logically come from animal sources.
anyway, to disprove me regarding Kyong Sang Do and Japan, prove to me that natto is eaten in other Korean provinces. Or accept it, which I subjectively feel is the truth.
You mean, like Gundam?
Natto make Gundam big and strong!
yo, dude, it’s MLK day, did you or any of you US dudes overseas do anything regarding it?
I think this picture of yellow/red man speaking in broken English is extremely racist and yet extremely dogbertt.
I was speaking in Hulk/Superhero voice, twit.
More to the point, explain again how you on the one hand, condemn the Japanese and on the other, have a fetish for Japanese porn and Gundam. Don’t dodge the issue or throw up red herrings.
i don’t have a fetish for Japanese porn.
I have said that like a million times?
I’ve seen Gundam. I hate like 80% of productions. I think I only like Zeta Gundam.
You call me a twit?
You’re a jackass and a racist, who’s so sorry for himself that he set foot in Korea.
more to the point, did MLK ruin your America of your fathers?
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
LOL @ the otaku.
MLK was an American himself, what’s your point? FWIW, I like MLK.
And, while few people will acknowledge it, MLK himself was a natty natto gourmand.
dogbertt, you’re a pretty witty guy, so logically convince that I am a Japanophile.
you see, I also read and re-read, and re-read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in Korean and English.
Shakesphere? I only read if required by certain teachers here and there I could not avoid in the pursuit of higher education.
Does that make me a lover of things of China?
In the same way, I don’t think I am a Japanophile.
MLK made it feasible that at least on the surface, in the USA, you can’t be racist, white supremacist, etc.
MLK did something very valuable for me, and he should be honored.
what’s interesting is, nobody except maybe me, even raised the point.
I think that’s because most of you are white.
very few born in the US-gyopos even recognize the name, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, etc.
I attribute my interest in Zeta Gundam to the Busan illegal importers in Korea, my interest in ROTK to Korean men in general (my father brought me the first abridge copy to read), and having been raised and schooled in South Korea for 7-8 years.
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[...] Robert Koehler over at The Marmot is reporting that the latest Japanese Wave import to Korea is none other than natto. [...]