Our search in natto mecca Mito leads us to Kogoira Natto.
Nearly each a part of Japan has a meals it’s well-known for, and in Mito, the capital metropolis of Ibaraki Prefecture, that meals is natto, a.ok.a. fermented soybeans, a.ok.a. Japan’s smelliest meals. But when Mito is the very best place for natto, then by extension the very best natto in Mito needs to be the easiest in all of Japan, proper?
That was the logic our Japanese-language reporter Ikuna Kamezawa was following when she requested her pal, a Mito resident, to suggest the very best natto you should buy within the metropolis.
Ikuna popped this query whereas she and her pal have been at a Mito grocery store, standing in entrance of the large natto shelf. Even with that big variety, although, Ikuna’s pal mentioned the greatest natto wasn’t right here, so the 2 of them headed to the Mito department of the Keisei Division Retailer…
…and over to the kensanhin (県産品), or Ibaraki-produced objects, space on the shop’s meals ground, the place Ikuna’s pal pointed her to the Kogoira Natto from maker Marushin Shokuhin.
This, her pal mentioned, is the very best of the very best…however Ikuna had by no means heard the phrase “kogoira” earlier than. It seems that it’s a variant of soboro natto, which is itself a variant of normal natto. In soboro natto, the fermented soybeans are combined with minced daikon radish, and for those who throw within the radish’s leaves too, then it turns into Kogoira Natto.
▼ Kogoira Natto
▼ Common natto (left) and Kogoira Natto
Regardless of Ikuna’s pal’s glowing endorsement, Kogoira Natto is priced at simply 324 yen (US$2.30), and Ikuna determined to select up three various kinds of it.
▼ Clockwise from high left: Kimchi Kogoira Natto, Plum Sea Grass Kogoira Natto, and common Kogoira Natto
▼ The completely different flavors come from included sauces that you just stir into the fermented soybeans proper earlier than consuming.
Natto is offered refrigerated, so Ikuna requested for loads of ice packs for her journey again to Tokyo to share her natto bounty with the remainder of the SoraNews24 HQ employees.
She determined to start out the sampling by giving fellow author P.Ok. Sanjun a style. Nonetheless, P.Ok., who has a deep hatred of natto thanks in no small half to its extraordinarily pungent, sock-like odor, turned her away instantly.
▼ Sure, even amongst individuals born and raised in Japan, natto’s odor is usually a deal breaker.
Subsequent, she approached Japanese editor Go Hatori, who has no olfactory hangups in the case of natto.
So what did Go, who’s a natto fan generally, suppose?
“Hey, that is great things! It’s…fascinating. Oh, is that this daikon radish? That’s distinctive! Much more than a deliciously fascinating natto, I’d name this an curiously scrumptious natto!”
Additionally down for a style was Jun, one other member of our Japanese-language writing employees and a natto lover, who mentioned of the Kogoira Natto “That is the best-tasting natto I’ve ever eaten.”
So whereas individuals who can’t deal with the odor of natto in all probability gained’t be capable of come close to sufficient to Kogoira Natto to style it for themselves, for those who’re somebody who doesn’t thoughts natto’s aroma, you’ll in all probability love the style of this natto, and for those who can’t make the journey to Mito, it’s out there on-line from Marushin Shokuhin right here.
Associated: Keisei Division Retailer (Mito department)
Images ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]
