My Natto Experience

In less than a week I will be leaving this country to spend 50 days in Japan learning Japanese and about Japanese culture.  For my last week in America before I leave, I have decided to throw a week of mini celebrations coupled with the copious amounts of pre-Japan studying I've procrastinated on, and no celebration is complete without food.  So, yesterday when I went to Jungle Jim's International Market I picked up some Japanese food items that I knew I would enjoy and some I had not tried before, most notably natto.

For those of you who don't know what natto is, natto is fermented soy beans that is very sticky and is usually eaten over rice for breakfast or any number of other ways.  Most Westerners don't like natto and even a lot of Japanese don't like it, but many do.  What is so distinct about it is its smell and its texture.  I have read a lot of comments that say it smells like dirty socks or rancid something or other and that it feels like it's covered in snot.  So, as an avid fan of Japanese culture and one who enjoys trying new foods, I decided to try it out myself.

When I first opened it up I thought the smell would punch me in the face but it wasn't as pungent as I thought it would be.  I could smell it faintly from a distance but I really had to get close to get a sense of what it smelled like.  To me, it smelled like acrylic paint which really isn't that bad to me and wasn't going to stop me from tasting it.  I had my sister smell it and she couldn't get near it she thought it smelled so bad.  She literally went across the room to get away from the smell.  My mom thought it smelled bad but didn't have such a jarring reaction to it.

Since I like to watch a lot of food videos I knew how you are supposed to prepare it before even opening the box.  The steps are as follows:

First, you want to remove the plastic film and add both sauce packets.  One is mustard and one is soy sauce.

Next, you stir it all together so the sauces get incorporated and the natto gets stickier and creates more of those white strands.

It is now ready to be consumed.

Since I didn't have any Japanese rice to cook I ate it straight up and immediately became aware of why people who don't grow up eating it don't like it. My stomach lurched and tried to throw it up the longer I kept it in my mouth.  I didn't even have a chance to swallow it.  I could definitely taste the mustard and the soy sauce and the texture was slimy and chewy like half cooked beans, but there was something about it that my body was not going to swallow.  So I spit it out, drank some water and ate a banana instead. 

It was not the most pleasant experience and I don't wish to experience it again.  However, if you think you have a stronger stomach than I, I suggest you to try it yourself, and continue to remain abso-foodie-licious!