Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Discovering Lauras Natto Soybeans (Kotsubu Soybean)

For the majority of my natto making year, I bought the organic soybeans found in the bulk section of Whole Foods. They taste great and are of very good quality. Initially, I made the natto with this and enjoyed it. After a few months my wife pointed out that they were too large and texturally were not ideal. So we settled on making "hikiwari natto" which is the chopped up version. Usually, hikiwari natto is said to be chopped before fermenting it. This was too hard at home so I chopped it right before we ate it.




The only thought that was nagging me was that they were not the "kotsubu" (small bean) variety. The natto that is store bought is made of this kotsubu variety and it was impossible to find in the US. On one of my deep googling expeditions late at night, I hit upon the gem I was looking for. Finally, I found kotsubu soybeans at Lauras Soybeans!




12 comments:

  1. Love your blog! Does Laura's still carry kotsubo soybeans?

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  2. Love your blog! Does Laura's still carry kotsubo soybeans?

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    1. They sure do! You can go to Laura Soybean site and order them.

      Corliss, if you could please let me know if you get a notification when you get this reply. Want to know if it somehow gets to you by email or if you need to check back the blog to see the reply. Still foggy on how comments work.

      Natto Dad

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    2. No, I didn't get a notification. But my husband did order from Laura's Soy beans and it is indeed kotsubo! I will be making natto tomorrow! Thank you for all your help!

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    3. No, I didn't get a notification. But my husband did order from Laura's Soy beans and it is indeed kotsubo! I will be making natto tomorrow! Thank you for all your help!

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    4. Great! Laura soybeans has really good soybeans. I set up the "Contact Me" on the top right so you can contact me directly and you will not have to check back in the blog for a reply. Thank you for informing me.

      Natto Dad

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  3. Hi Natto Dad. Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us, your natto recipe looks perfect. I have made tons of unsuccessful natto, but it is getting better everytime. I live in Spain and I don't want to order Laura's soybeans or Kotsubu till I get sure that I control the natto making process because I don't want to waste them and make unnecessary expenditures. It is easy for me to get mung bean, also called green soybean, and I got my best results using this kind of bean, probably due to its tiny size. Have you ever make natto using mung bean? do you think that it could be a good alternative if I can't get kotsubu? Their sizes are almost equal.

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    1. Hi Ramon,

      It is great to hear from a fellow natto maker! No need to order kotsubu soybeans, I think improvising is a great way to adjust your natto making to what is available in the area. Personally, I have never used mung beans. You raise a very good point, I do not know why traditional Japanese natto uses soybeans. Probably because it is commonly available. Around the world, different cultures have discovered natto separately and they use different beans. Size might be one important aspect as well as the nutrient content in the bean. There might be some beans that are more compatible with the natto bacteria. I say that if mung beans are working for you, great!

      Please send me photos of your mung bean natto to my email posted on my blog, found on the top right of the page. I would be very curious to see that!

      Natto Dad

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    2. Thank you for your answer Natto Dad. Of course I will send you some pictures of the batch that I'm making right now following your method, when it gets ready. Untill that thing happens, I can send you some pictures of other batches that I made before.

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    3. Done!! You must have a mail called "Mung bean natto from Ramon", if I did it correctly.

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  4. yes, they are small, but not organic. The pesticides you eat with these beans are soo numerous and so damaging for our health.

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  5. I make natto with organic soybeans, and yes, they are bigger beans but at least not poisonous like Laura's beans.
    Also, instead of using a plastic wrapper, which is not good for us either, I use parchment paper as the first layer, make holes in it, than add plastic on top of this, and makes small holes in plastic, the same as you do.

    For temperature set up I use 40W bulb in my oven, instead of one that comes with the oven. When the light is on it keeps the temperature of 100F all 24 hours. I attach little oven thermometer to watch the temperature.

    The rest of the process is the same as yours.

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

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