### Nattō
納豆
Japan — These musty, warm soybeans whip up into a delicious, never-ending web of savory, sticky strings.
Nattō is whole soybeans fermented until they become incredibly sticky. It has a strong, musty aroma with mild notes of ammonia. When stirred, the beans release a web of long, silvery threads. Underneath the smell lies a beloved burst of earthy, nutty, and savory umami flavor.
How It's Made
Small soybeans are steamed until soft, then mixed with a heat-loving bacteria called Bacillus subtilis. The beans are kept in a very warm environment (104°F) for up to 24 hours while the microbes rapidly predigest the proteins. This fermentation creates delicious amino acids and poly-gamma-glutamic acid, the chemical responsible for those famous stretchy strings.
The Story
Nattō has been consumed in Japan for over a thousand years. According to traditional legend, it was discovered completely by accident around 1086 AD by the samurai Minamoto no Yoshiie. His troops were boiling soybeans for their horses when they were suddenly attacked, forcing the soldiers to quickly pack the hot beans into bags made of rice straw. It turns out that rice straw naturally carries Bacillus subtilis spores. Days later, the hungry soldiers opened the bags to find their beans had fermented and grown sticky. They ate them anyway, realized how deeply delicious they were, and a brilliant culinary tradition was born.