08/10/2022
You might find it unpleasant, but from my point of view, instead of Sushi or Tempura, Natto is the most special dish out of all to represent Japanese cuisine. Other than that, Natto is also the favourite food of CHONG KUN in Japan, if let CHONG KUN pick only one type of food to eat with rice for the rest of his life, Natto must be the choice. It is so unique that as a Malaysian who already get used to tons of varieties of food from his own country, CHONG KUN is still unable to name a food that tastes similarly to Natto. At least stinky tofu smell like dog s**t, and CHONG KUN can only say Natto taste like Natto. Other than its flavour, what makes CHONG KUN so fond of it is because of its texture like flu. We enjoy seeing the bubbles and flu-like liquid sticking between the beans and we try to tarik it for fun sometimes. If you are crazy enough like some of the Japanese, you can even mix it with ladyfinger, making it more look like and feel like flu.
So, what kind of cursed food is this actually? Basically Natto is just normal fermented soybeans. A lot of people cannot accept this cursed food because first it looks ugly, and second the super strong smell that you have never tried before. Human tends to be cautious when facing something unfamiliar, that's why your brain automatically recognised this cursed food as some rotten trash. But trust me, give Natto a few times of chances you will find yourself was so wrong to hate it. Scientifically Natto is also a very healthy food because after fermentation, Natto contains large amount of Vitamins B, K2 and good for blood circulation too. Without looking the scientific part, you should also trust Japanese's choice of food as they are the people with longest life expectancy.
日本食と言えば、どんな物を思い浮かべますか。お寿司や天婦羅やかつ丼などと言う人が多いかもしれませんが、日本食の中で一番特別な料理は納豆だと私は考えます。今回は日本文化として不可欠な物、納豆の歴史についてシェアしたいと思います。
弥生時代の住居に敷き詰められていた藁の菌と煮豆が偶々に発酵し、偶然に糸引き納豆ができたという説もあるし、平安時代に中国へ留学しに行った仏教僧が塩辛納豆を持ち帰って広がったという説もあるし、糸引き納豆の起源は諸説紛々としています。いずれにしても、江戸時代になったら、糸引き納豆はもう江戸の大人気になってきたのです。しかし、納豆を好んで食べる人は主に関東以北集中し、全国まで普及する至りませんでした。普及し始めたのは軍用食とする第二次世界大戦と食料不足で蛋白源とする戦後と言われています。そして60年代の冷蔵輸送技術の発展により、全国的に見えるようになってしまうのです。