I decided, now that I have no restrictions on food choices at home, to make natto a regular part of my diet. That was something of a challenge because, like most people on the autism spectrum, I'm abnormally sensitive to textures, and the texture and mouth feel of natto is, well, gross. But I may have accidentally stumbled on a solution:
Dried shaved bonito. If you know your way around Japanese food you already know about katsuobushi, aka dried shaved bonito (which is a kind of fish). If not, it's a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, used (among other things) as a condiment for rice. You can get it in little packets like the ones shown above. (You want the little packets; the big bags are usually huge flakes meant for making dashi, Japanese fish broth.)
Stir up your natto, add it to hot rice, add a packet of dried shaved bonito, and then add soy sauce and anything else you like. Stir thoroughly and eat. The katsuobushi is very dry, and so far it seems to do a fine job of soaking up the natto slime and making the result entirely palatable. Your mileage may vary, but the results were impressive enough to me that I thought it was worth sharing.
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branchandroot
A possible solution to natto's main problem
Date: 2024-05-18 12:37 pm (UTC)Dried shaved bonito.
If you know your way around Japanese food you already know about katsuobushi, aka dried shaved bonito (which is a kind of fish). If not, it's a common ingredient in Japanese cooking, used (among other things) as a condiment for rice. You can get it in little packets like the ones shown above. (You want the little packets; the big bags are usually huge flakes meant for making dashi, Japanese fish broth.)
Stir up your natto, add it to hot rice, add a packet of dried shaved bonito, and then add soy sauce and anything else you like. Stir thoroughly and eat. The katsuobushi is very dry, and so far it seems to do a fine job of soaking up the natto slime and making the result entirely palatable. Your mileage may vary, but the results were impressive enough to me that I thought it was worth sharing.