Food Challenge: Natto Double Down Challenge

And so here we are, the 50th post and still going strong. Thank you all for your support and kindness since the very beginning. Although the blog is barely a year old, I am truly grateful for the positive feedback and also constructive criticisms that came along the way. As we continue our gastronomical journey together, I thought of doing something different just for kicks. 

To celebrate The OG's 50th post, I have decided to put myself to a food challenge. I have never had natto (納豆)before and have been told how repulsive it is. Although a fairly seasoned washoku connoisseur, this is where I popped my natto cherry.. Accompanying me in this is XH once again, whom some readers are familiar with as a collaborator in some of the posts and also Ryan, another friend who is visiting a legit Japanese izakaya for the first time. Yup, this post is so epic that I need help from 2 collaborators. 

Guiding my way through is none other than my favourite izakaya in KL, Yashi-no-Mi. Being one of the few places that makes you genuinely feel like you are in Japan, they have an array of Japanese dishes that you will not find in your local kaiten chain. And one ingredient you would find difficulty in getting is natto. 

Let the pre-drinking begin.

First off  I need to get my spirits up. As such, actual spirits are in order. The master (a usual phrase in calling the owner of a Japanese establishment) recommended to us a nihonshu (another name for "sake") called Junmai Daiginjo from Tama no Hikari brewery. Flavourful and extremely rare in this country, the sake is sweet yet light. It has a very delicate flavour but still packs a punch. And now with some Dutch courage, I prepared myself to do battle. Also, I had a double down highball before the nihonshu. So I was pretty buzzed before taking down some fermented stringy beans. 

Getting ready for the first part of the challenge. 

The master first recommended that I have the natto omurice before I take on the unadulterated version. As the beans are now fried into a rice dish and has eggs to cocoon it, the pungent aroma will be tempered and advised this first before going down into the real deal. I happily obliged and as such got myself a small portion. The end result was actually tasty.

Looks tastier up close. You can see the liberal amounts of beans here.

 The rice was salty and slightly sweet. There is a cheese like stench in the rice, which I suspect comes from the natto. It was a bit strong but not overwhelming enough to stop me from cleaning the plate. It was very satisfying and a rice dish that was well done. 

The close up. 

After a short break and more junmai later, I screamed out the call to arms : 納豆 ご飯 おねがいします! The master happily obliged and actually instructed staff to get me a fresh box of natto right from their storage. This is some first quality service over here.In consuming the beans, there is some steps to follow. Firstly, the beans must be placed in an empty bowl and combined with some spring onions, bonito flakes and soy sauce. 

The master really living up to his name.

Once everything is placed inside a bowl, one must use their chopsticks to mix everything very thoroughly, akin to beating an egg for an omelette but more violently. When everything is well mixed, the beans are then laid on a bed of freshly steamed rice. It took a while, as the sticky texture of natto makes it difficult to mix. It felt very similar as to mixing potato starch with hot water, but with a little less resistance. 

Breakneck speed!

With the artillery set, I took the first mouthful of beans and rice. The taste to me was not bad at all. The beans do have a very pungent smell, which is like goat cheese or blue cheese. But as I like blue cheese, it was not a bad experience in chowing down. The bonito and soy do give it more depth of flavour and maybe tempered down the pungency. 

Actually tasted better than I thought.

Still, you can still feel the full natto experience here. It was slimy and chunky at the same time, which is a peculiar texture combination in its own. Still, it was somewhat enjoyable to me. And since it is a very healthy dish that is good for you, I finished off the bowl. There was a bit of a struggle finishing it, as the smell did become abit too strong along the way. However, it was not so strong that I might need to purge out. 

The night cap

After that was sorted and being carbed out due to consuming 2 different natto and rice dishes, the master served us with a glass of his own personal  stash, which was Mao (魔王). Another very rare commodity, this was even better than the Junmai Daiginjo and is much stronger. 

All in all, that was a very interesting Friday night with a few lads. Of course, natto is not something everyone will enjoy and I may have it more because of its health benefits instead of a treat or meal that I would order for myself. But if someone offered me a bowl of natto for lunch, I would easily oblige. 

Cleaned!

Note: 

• The photos for this post  were from XH and Ryan. Feel free to check out their other works via their Instagram, by clicking here and here respectively. 
• To know more about Yashi-no-Mi, click here for an earlier post to see what else they have in store.