Natto. It's What's For Breakfast

I’ve been eating natto for a while now and I love it. I originally discovered it when I saw an episode of The Professionals on NHK World. It was an inspiring episode that showed someone creating an extremely inexpensive way of generating clean drinking water for regions of the world where poverty is high and access to clean water is often too expensive to purchase. One of the ingredients he used to filter water was a powdered form of natto.

I’ll admit it looked pretty gross at first as natto is very slimy looking and produces a lot of sticky strings, but after looking deeper into it and seeing the health benefits for the dish, I had to try it at least once; if just to be grossed out by seeing and smelling it in person as some say it also has a funky odor.

It was really hard to find some as I had to go to many Asian stores in my area to pick up a pack. Sure it’s also on Amazon but I’m not going to pay the stupidly overpriced $30.00 price tag for something I don’t even know I’m going to like that servers only three dishes of. And after all of that driving and all of that wasted gas, I eventually found a store just down the street from me that carries natto. Stupid me, I thought 99 Ranch Market was a Hispanic supermarket and not an Asian market. But in my defense, the store near me doesn’t use the Asian characters on its signs to show that it is, in fact, an Asian store. Ugh.

Anyways, they come in packs of three or four and are usually $2 or $3 bucks a pack. I keep them in the freezer to preserve them longer. This means I have to plan ahead and place a pack in the fridge a day or so earlier so it can defrost a bit when I’m ready to eat it.

The verdict: delicious. It doesn’t smell bad either, but that may be based on the producer and their manufacturing process. For the rice I go to Vons and buy a bunch of their inexpensive instant white rice bowls that only need 90 seconds in the microwave before ready to eat. Just mix the natto well, place on top of the rice, and enjoy! It’s a filling meal that keeps me good until lunch and is packed with nutrients that is worth eating at least once every few days. I will not, though, eat it with a raw egg mixed into the rice and natto as many suggest doing online. No thanks. I’m not a big fan of the ingredient salmonella.

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