Dec 7, 2014

Natto Made By Non-Japanese? (It was good!) 日本製でない納豆、これいかに?(おいしかったよ)

My family and I love eating natto. This eating habit has never been changed even when we were in Nevada or Japan, or anywhere else on this planet even when we are here in Michigan. We bought this brand, which we hadn't heard of, for the first time. The package is written in the Korean language, except for the three letters that says "日本産 (Produced in Japan)". I quickly thought this should most likely have to be expressed as "国産" instead of "日本産." - But anyway, we wanted to try this new brand. It was even cheaper than we had purchased.

To those of you who don't know what natto is, Wikipedia explains about it this way:
"Natto (なっとう or 納豆) is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis var. natto. Some eat it as a breakfast food. Natto may be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slimy texture."

As the article explains, natto has been one of the most popular breakfast food items and is considered to be a very nutritious food.

Looking into the Wikipedia description one more time, it says, "[...] serving of natto (100g) provides 29% of the Daily value (DV) of Vitamin K, 22% of the DV for Vitamin C, 76% of the DV for manganese, 22% of the DV for iron, and 22% of the DV for dietary fiber."

Just like sushi, people have believed that natto was something that is produced ONLY by the Japanese. But thinking that most of the Japanese restaurants are run by non-Japanese where sushi is served, natto can come out in place from non-Japanese companies or factories. I know many Japanese want to say "That's no better than a fake. I don't trust that. Our food can be appreciated and tasted only when it is made in Japan."

If this is true, it has to be that the performances in the Japanese Disney Resort will be all fakes, and they should not be trusted. All the Disney characters are speaking and singing in Japanese, and all are happening in Japan.

Going back to the topic of this natto that was probably produced in a non-Japanese company (the package says it is produced in Japan, but I doubt it), my family and I thought it was as delicious as other Japanese brands we have eaten for so many years. Good news is that it is less expensive than the famous Japanese items.
It doesn't mean cheaper things can be better. Once there is a quality issue to be known publicly on the media, people will stay away from the item regardless of whether it is cheap or not.

We sometimes go to the nearest Chinese buffet restaurant because we love the sushi over there at a reasonable price. Great thing about this restaurant is that we can also eat many other things, including various Chinese food, apple pie, cherry pie, cake, and fruits. We go to Japanese grocery stores when we want to buy or eat something that other Asian stores do not have, such as beef bowls, Japanese seasoning items and so on.