Gold bar? Or expensive candy?
The package looks like a gold bar. Of course, you can tell it’s not when you hold it. But you think maybe it’s some expensive candy or something. Then you open the package and you find it’s ”natto” (fermented beans). Then to add to the surprise, you find a piece of real gold leaf on top of the beans. L.C. Kikusui Shokuhin is the company that manufactures the ”Kikusui Gold Natto”.
What made you put gold leaf in your ”natto”? Nakata asked the obvious question. Keiji Kikuchi, president laughed and answered ”I just wanted it to stand out”, but of course the taste is a guaranteed ”gold” quality. It won the ”Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries award” in a ”natto” contest, which is the highest ranking award in the contest.
Totally odor free
To tell the truth, Nakata never liked the smell of ”natto” since his childhood. But the smell of ”natto” never bothered him throughout the factory tour. Kikusui Shokuhin did a lot of research to develop ”natto” that has very little of the often unpleasant odor. That’s why many people who do not like ”natto” say that they can eat the ”natto” made here. Actually besides running the company, Kikuchi wears another hat as a ”natto” researcher and runs various research projects about ”natto”. He was doing a research on a type of soybean that is very delicious but not suited for ”natto”, and how to make them into good ”natto”. The ”Kikusui Gold Natto” is a result of such research. Other types of natto include a health conscious product, ”Kikusui Mineral Natto” which feature minerals from the oceans off Oarai.
Best the way you like it
So we asked the ”natto researcher” a question.
Question: Is it true that ”natto” is best if you mix it well?
Answer: At the time the famous gourmet Rosanjin wrote his books, steaming techniques were not as developed as today, so you had to mix ”natto” well or the texture remained hard and the taste was hidden. That’s why he recommended mixing the ”natto” well. However, With the ”natto” today, over mixing will break the beans and spoil the taste. So you should not overmix. But then again, if you like well mixed ”natto” you can mix it as much as you want. You should eat it the way you like it.” Kikuchi is an award winning ”natto” maker, but he just laughed away our question saying ”it’s best to eat it the way you like it.” It isn’t easy to let go of your thoughts towards the product like that. In fact, as he explained about ”natto” he never forgot to add a touch of humor, and there was always laughter in the factory.
