Month: June 2019

Oishii! -Natto 2019 style-

Natto (納豆): a traditional Japanese dish made of fermented soybeans. It is often served with soy sauce and mustard. It may be an acquired taste due to its powerful smell, flavor, and sticky/slimy texture.

If there is one Japanese food that I find challenging to recommend my friends, it is Natto. Even some Japanese people can’t stand it (which means more for me!). Although Natto is known for its health benefits from the probiotics and enzymes contained, there’s yogurt too. So for years, I haven’t really thought of persuading others to try Natto… Until today.

I was walking down a street in Shimokitazawa when I came across a store specialised in Natto called “Sendaiya” (せんだい屋). You won’t miss it, there is an entire vending machine dedicated just for natto on demand right at its door!!

On standby in case of emergency Natto cravings

So naturally, I had to walk in. And next to all various sorts of Natto you could dream of, I found something least expected.

Donuts. Donuts with flavours ranging from matcha, banana, chocolate, to sesame, walnuts, and summer lemon.

When I asked the employee what this is about, she gave me a few key points about these donuts in this Natto store.
1) These donuts are baked, not fried
2) They are individually handmade
3) And YES they have Natto kneaded in!

I tried the matcha flavoured one, and this is what I thought:
– They definitely don’t have the smell that Natto usually does
– They had a light texture, rather fluffy than oily
– And NO they were not slimy (thank G)
And I also tried this “Dried Natto.” Verdict? DELICIOUS.

While the texture of this Dried Natto was very much like crackers, the smell and flavour were much closer to the authentic Natto, and it also left the slightly slimy texture in the mouth. So that’s a step-up from the donut for sure. And if you like these, you’ll love Natto.

Overall, discovering these products gave me hope that one day, my friends (or at least one) would be eating the authentic Natto with me straight from the packet. They just need their time to take their steps 😉

p.s. I just started an Instagram account under Nippon with Fuko so check it out!

How brave are you?

Natto Donuts: Clap clap ⭐️
Dried Natto: Damn, I respect ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Natto: Get your Japanese passport already, you absolute champ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Oishii! -white rice & a kick-

If you have eaten Japanese food, it is most likely that you’ve seen or tasted Japanese short grain rice. But have you ever had the white rice for breakfast the way we do?

We eat “Hakumai” (white rice) at any time of the day. With a steak, curry, you name it. Most noodle restaurants even offer a small side of rice to go with the noodle. (Cause you know, there’s never enough carbs)

The Hakumai breakfast I eat: with mentaiko (spicy cod roe), umeboshi (pickled plum), and shirasu (dried small sardines)

For breakfast, we normally have a hakumai with a bowl of miso soup and something flavourful to go with the bland rice. My favourites are mentaiko (spicy cod roe), umeboshi (pickled plum), and natto. If you hear that we eat spiced codfish eggs at 8 A.M. you might think “not me.” But it’s essentially some fresh caviar for a brekkie – now that’s what I call a quality lifestyle. While umeboshi and natto have become famous and available in Sydney, mentaiko hasn’t made it yet. If you get a chance to visit Japan, make sure you look out for places that offer mentaiko with rice! We also use mentaiko in Japanese-style pasta…and it’s absolutely to die for. If you prefer mentaiko pasta, check out this pasta chain in Japan.

Long story short, if you don’t think you’re a breakfast person, rice person, or let alone some fishy egg person…well you should be in Japan.