Yeah...

Hai~ How come the japanese ppl seems to loveee eating natto? There was once I saw Kimura eating it along with rice and he seems to enjoy it a lot... -_-"

3Peace...
orenji

Since I live in Japan, natto tastes very good to me. I suggest anyone who likes japanese food to try it. Natto usually you put in karashi(hot,yellow mustard), tsuyu(kind of like a sweet shoyu sauce comes with natto pack) and negi(green onions). You eat it on top of rice but many young people in japan mix it with udon and eat it.

unagi, ebi, and for some reason I love the agedashi tofu... hehe...

v_ice

J-Popper wrote:

Since I live in Japan, natto tastes very good to me. I suggest anyone who likes japanese food to try it. Natto usually you put in karashi(hot,yellow mustard), tsuyu(kind of like a sweet shoyu sauce comes with natto pack) and negi(green onions). You eat it on top of rice but many young people in japan mix it with udon and eat it.

thanx for your explanation j-popper~!!
i'm gonna eat natto in the right way

guess how i eat tempura last time...
i dipped it into soya sauce instead of the actual sauce(i dont know what ya call that)

my friend said that's not the right way

Quote:

guess how i eat tempura last time... i dipped it into soya sauce instead of the actual sauce(i dont know what ya call that) my friend said that's not the right way

I think what you're referring to is called the ten-tsuyu sauce... the tempura dipping sauce. It's made of dashi, mirin and soy sauce

v_ice

kook05 wrote:

was just wondering if you have to add anything to natto before you eat it.... like soya sauce or something.... cos' i always see the japanese adding something to it before they eat it....

Sometime, it comes with added condiments (soysauce, vinegar, or mustard) and then you added to the natto. You mix everything up until you activated the bacteria bacillus in the beans, essentially making it bubble up. I used to think why would anyone eat this stuff, but the more I eat it the more I thought, man this is spretty damn good! They even have, in some of the "conveyer belt" sushi restaurants in JPN, nigiri sushi with natto on top. Now I like the stuff so much I eat it every day/every other day. Hope this helps.
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niko2x wrote:

kook05 wrote: was just wondering if you have to add anything to natto before you eat it.... like soya sauce or something.... cos' i always see the japanese adding something to it before they eat it.... Sometime, it comes with added condiments (soysauce, vinegar, or mustard) and then you added to the natto. You mix everything up until you activated the bacteria bacillus in the beans, essentially making it bubble up. I used to think why would anyone eat this stuff, but the more I eat it the more I thought, man this is spretty damn good! They even have, in some of the "conveyer belt" sushi restaurants in JPN, nigiri sushi with natto on top. Now I like the stuff so much I eat it every day/every other day. Hope this helps.

wow... cool niko...
it helps... thanks for the info!!!

but i still have a little qn... sorry....
does it mean that to activate the bacteria bacillus, you need to add the condiments? or you can do with not adding anyting inside?
i notice that b4 eating the natto, one 'stir' it for quite a while b4 eating...
when would you know it's ready to be eaten? until it becomes really sticky?

gosh.... it's more than a little qn.... gomen....

Nah, it's cool. Some packages don't even come with the above mentioned condiments, so you really don't need them. You stir it up by activating the baccilus. Stir for about a good 30 sec, until it bubbles, so it's really slippery and gooey, then you mix and stir into your SHORT GRAIN rice (I think it would taste different on long grain).
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I try NAto with rice Shower Da nato with raw Yellow egg [ Try hard to enjoy it cause one of me J friend make it dat to me ]...For lunch use to grab some tempura n sushi....Yep J ppl love nato....Like we Indo like chily so much...Can't eat anything without them We like it Extremly hot..

niko2x wrote:

Nah, it's cool. Some packages don't even come with the above mentioned condiments, so you really don't need them. You stir it up by activating the baccilus. Stir for about a good 30 sec, until it bubbles, so it's really slippery and gooey, then you mix and stir into your SHORT GRAIN rice (I think it would taste different on long grain).

cool...
thanks alot!!!!! appreciate it!!
will try it soon!!!
only prob, we mainly have long grain rice here... so prolly have to go get some short grain rice as well.....

me too After all the temptation discussion we had, i can't wait to try natto now.

yeah, big different between long and short grain. long grain is better for making fried rice, while short is better eating "white", and plus it makes you fuller faster (IMO) because it's more moist, or in this case, "gluttonous". Being it makes you fuller faster, you don't eat as much starch and for those who are into healthy eating, I think this is better for you, less calorie intake. I grew up eating long grain, but later discovered short grain and been eating short grain ever since.
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Hmm,

But then when I got a packet off from the shelves at Cold Storage and bought it, I did add the sauce in and stirred it till it's very sticky and you can see the bubbles but... it didn't taste as what I've thought... I wonder why...

kook, do tell us how it tastes ok?

3Peace...
Orenji

velvet_ice wrote:

I think what you're referring to is called the ten-tsuyu sauce... the tempura dipping sauce. It's made of dashi, mirin and soy sauce v_ice

oh yeah!
now i know
i kept calling that the tempura sauce

thanx velvet

....
u guys r tempting me!
i'm gonna try natto tomorrow~

you people really brave manz.. i'll only try it if it appears before me.. i would never go search for it.. zenzen dame dayo..!!!

Oishi

*put on me shedule to visit Jresto tomorrow on lunch*

This dish belongs to the ten-ya-mono category of Japanese recipes. A tenyamono usually consists of gu (topping -- Ed.) which is placed on top of freshly cooked warm rice in a donburi (porcelain bowl). The gu can be any of following: tempura; tonkatsu; beef cutlet; quick-cooked vegetables with with beef, pork, or chicken (sometimes cooked with a beaten egg); or some types of seafood including sashimi (sliced tuna or other variety). O-yako means parent and child, reflecting the use of chicken and egg in this dish.

Ingredients:
1/4 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
about 2 oz. chicken breast, sliced
Shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dry), thinly sliced, if available
2 or 3 snow peas, julienned (cut into long thin strips)
2 stalks green onion, chopped in 1 to 2 inch lengths
1 egg, beaten
[Dashi]:
1/2 tsp dashi no moto, dissolved in 1/2 cup of water, or you may substitute 1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons or more soy sauce*, as needed
1 tablespoon or more brown sugar*, adjusted for desired sweetness
* you can adjust these while cooking the vegetables and meat.
one serving freshly cooked Japanese-style rice

Directions:
In a small skillet, place the sliced yellow onion, sliced shiitake mushrooms and dashi. Cook for 2 to 3 miniutes until the onion is tender. While cooking, add the chicken slices and green onion. When the chicken is cooked, spread the beaten egg over the vegetables and meat. Sprinkle the julienned snow peas on top immediately. Cook until the egg hardens partially or completely, as you like. Pour a little of the sauce on top.

To serve, you may put the rice on a dinner plate and place your gu on top of the rice. Or you may serve it in the same way in a donburi. If you cook for two or more, use a large skillet, divide the gu (topping), then serve.

- recipe courtesy of Hiroyuki Sato

ITADAKIMASU

Slight idea bout NAto [Da stuff PPl talk bout ]

Tempura...Suki desuka ?

A long time ago (about 400+ years back), when Japan was trading with Portuguese and Dutch merchants, tempura was introduced to the country as the style in which these merchants cooked vegetables and fish. Tempura was not popular among Japanese people until the late Edo era. A tempura street vendor started to serve tempura-fried sh caught fresh from Tokyo Bay, and it became popular with the common people. Sesame seed oil was mainly used in those days.

It seems very hard to learn the knack of tempura frying. With a little help, though, tempura deep frying can be so simple that you will want to show off to your friends. The main ingredients are vegetables and fish of your choosing. There are a few points that you have to remember: 1) slice the vegetables thin so they can be fried in a short time; 2) you will need a deep, thick-walled pan (a wok is OK) filled about 1 inch deep with peanut oil (try other types of oil if you like, but never add lard or shortening); 3) deep-fry in small batches so you can maintain the temperature of the oil; and finally 4) tempura-fry vegetables at 340F and fish at 360F.
Ingredients:

[Koromo (batter)]

Using cold water (about 40F) is a must. This keeps the batter from becoming sticky. When you add the flour, whisk quickly just to mix it in evenly. Sticky batter results in oily tempura.

1 egg, beaten
1 cup COLD water
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 cup flour
Beat the egg and mix with water. Add flour and whisk quickly.
[Tentsuyu (tempura dip)]

1 tablespoon dashi no moto in 1 cup of water, boiled for two to three minutes
2 tablespoons mirin. You can replace this with 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sake or dry white wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
ginger root to taste, freshly grated (optional)
After you boil the dashi, turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients.
[Vegetables & Fish] (ingredients and preparation suggestions)

Carrots, cut into thin sticks (i.e. 1 1/2 inches long)
Onions, sliced
Green pepper, cut into rings or any way you want
Eggplant, thinly sliced
Broccoli, prepared as for a for salad
Green onions, (see mixed vegetable tempura -- kakiage)
Zucchini, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, halved, or whole if small
Green beans, halved lengthwise, or whole
Asparagus, bite-sized (deep-fry 3 or 4 sticks together)
Butternut squash, bite-sized thin slices
Okra, halved lengthwise
Snow pea pods, whole

Cod, bite-sized
Shrimp, peeled, whole. Dip shrimp in the batter by holding the tail fin, and fry two or three at a time.
Scallops, whole if small
Crab, break shell and expose meat before dipping in batter
Squid, sliced into rings or strips
Dredge fish in flour before dipping in batter.
Directions:

Heat the oil to 340F or 360F. Dip the vegetables or fish in the batter and place them in the oil. If it is difficult to handle the vegetable chunks, you may use a tablespoon to drop them in. Do not fry too much at a time, in order to maintain the temperature. Take the tempura out of the oil just when the batter gets SLIGHTLY brown. Vegetables usually take less than two to three minutes. Remember: the thinner the vegetable, the faster it cooks. For fish, the time to pull it out is when the batter turns very slightly brown. It is good idea to do trial frying in the beginning. Taste it and decide how long it will have to be fried. Once you get the timing right, the rest is simple.

Serve with tentsuyu. Tempura is also served with rice. This is called ten-don. Put warm rice in a bowl or on a plate and place tempura on top of the rice. Pour on two or three tablespoons of tentsuyu. Another popular way of serving tempura is over a bowl of noodles. This is called tempura-udon or tempura-soba, and it is traditional Japanese fast food.

There are many variations in tempura frying. You can mix two or three vegetables and fry them together. This is called kakiage style. So be creative and invent your own style.

- recipe courtesy of Hiroyuki Sato