Making Natto...

[Guest guest]

....is as easy as falling off a log. If you can't make Natto, you can't make

anything. If you can't make Natto then you'd starve to death without a

can-opener.

I got 2 pounds of organic soybeans and soaked them then pressure cooked

them. One thing you'll find out is that the Japanese beans used for Natto

are a very small strain of soybean. " Normal " size soybeans cook up to about

the size of a dry Navy bean whereas the Japanese variety for Natto are

probably the smallest beans this country boy has ever seen.

I place the cooked beans in a stainless strainer atop of a tall stock pot

with 3-4 inches of hot water. I stirred in two packages of Mizkan Natto. I

put a thermometer into the beans and covered it all with the stockpot lid;

mine is glass so it makes it easy to read the thermometer. 108F is ideal but

the acceptable temp range is wide. I set the heat to as low as it would go

(electric stove) but that got too cool overnight- 90F- with such a big pot.

I ended up keeping it at just barely over the 1 setting on my stove during

the day. After 24 hours I have a good stringy slimy mess but it still needs

more time to be a perfect stringy slimy mess LOL!

I completely forgot to mix in any sugar and salt, which are actually

fermentation aids as well as taste enhancers but I still got a good culture.

That's rectified now and they're still rotting...uh...er... I mean

fermenting.

I ate some with hot mustard and soy sauce and it tastes just like the store

bought stuff.

Next for me is black beans. I'll be trying canned and dried beans. I sure

hope that turns out good because I actually like black beans. Also got a

pound of sunflower kernels to try later.

DB