elilla&: shinobue arcFeb 13
speaking of intentionally rotten, delicious food I have some nattō from my trip to Düs yesterday, think I'm gonna boil some rice and have nattō with the rice 
Show threadelilla&: shinobue arc

*that's* a thing I should DIY, it's too expensive to buy in Germany in the quantities I'd consume in Japan and plus I can only get it going in person to a larger-size asiamarkt (because many brands have fish sauce in it, and the German labels is spotty, so I need someone who can read kanji to make double sure there's no fish in the nattō, and I'm the only person I know who can read kanji and I feel comfortable asking to do groceries for me.)

nattō isn't fiddly to make, is it? I think it's basically a matter of getting the starter culture? but how expensive is the starter culture in Germany, I don't think it's a thing like yoghurt or kefir that you can keep reproducing…?

Feb 13 at 8:36pmWeb
Show threadelilla&: shinobue arcFeb 13

hmm, worse than I thought: it's fiddly with contamination and wants warm temperatures to incubate, it's more work-intensive than kimchi.

but better than I thought: you can in fact propagate a culture by mixing in the last spoonful of your previous batch with fresh soybeans to continue

Show threadelilla&: shinobue arcFeb 13
looks like commercial products are alive so you can even make them from industrial nattō as a starter, like yoghurt
Show threadminusFeb 13
@elilla I once mixed cream cheese with Gorgonzola. Next day the blue mold had started eating through the cream cheese. It was so delicious.
Show threadohfpFeb 13
@elilla you might be able to use store bought natto as a starter.
I did that; also imported starter years back, but then forgot about it (because I just kept using my own natto, several generations downwind from that original store bought starter natto ^^).
Kinda easy to make, imho; hardest part is keeping the temperature "just right". Hacky approaches can an oven with the door kept slightly ajar and either very, veeeery low settings and a good thermometer, or just the oven light on.