Clearing the Path For the Stinky, Sticky, Beloved Superfood of Japan: NYrture Natto | food. curated.
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0:01 - 0:05♪ (meditative calm music) ♪
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0:17 - 0:24(Ann Yonetani) It's true that natto
has this very unique gooey, sticky texture -
0:24 - 0:27but to me that's fun!
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0:27 - 0:30You know, it's interesting.
(laughter) -
0:31 - 0:33It's something to talk about.
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0:38 - 0:41Natto truly is the Japanese cheese.
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0:42 - 0:44It's a vegan version
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0:44 - 0:50of a really complex, umami-rich,
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0:50 - 0:53like washed rind cheese.
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0:53 - 0:57And yeah, many cheese lovers
really enjoy natto -
0:57 - 1:01and see that parallel in flavor profile.
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1:01 - 1:06It's a food that I feel like
more people need to have access to -
1:07 - 1:10because I think that
can benefit a lot of people -
1:10 - 1:12by incorporating it into their diets.
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1:13 - 1:18Hi, my name is Ann Yonetani,
I'm the founder and owner of NYrture Food -
1:18 - 1:21which makes natto in Brooklyn, New York.
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1:22 - 1:26Natto is really a ubiquitous food,
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1:26 - 1:31an everyday food that's most commonly
eaten for breakfast. -
1:31 - 1:38Yes, I feel like I have sort of taken on
the mission of being a cheerleader, -
1:38 - 1:40a spokesperson,
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1:40 - 1:44an evangelist for natto in America.
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1:44 - 1:48And it really is because I truly believe
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1:48 - 1:52that natto is just so special,
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1:52 - 1:53so unique...
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1:53 - 2:01I think if there's any food on earth
that deserves to be called a superfood -
2:01 - 2:01is natto.
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2:03 - 2:06♪ (slow piano music) ♪
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2:11 - 2:12It's good.
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2:13 - 2:17In a weird way, I'm an urban farmer,
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2:17 - 2:18an urban micro farmer.
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2:19 - 2:24I grow bacteria,
and those bacteria eat soybeans, -
2:24 - 2:26and they help me produce natto.
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2:27 - 2:29Yeah, I'm a nerd.
(laughter) -
2:34 - 2:40This is day one of
Nyrture's natto-making-process. -
2:41 - 2:44Every batch starts with this step,
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2:44 - 2:47which is me hand-sorting
through the beans. -
2:49 - 2:53I kind of love this step--
I love this step and I hate this step -
2:53 - 2:58but there's something very meditative
about the process -
2:58 - 3:02and our beans are beautiful,
I mean, they're so clean, -
3:02 - 3:07you know, 99.9% of them look fantastic.
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3:07 - 3:12I'd like to think that
every single natto bean we sell -
3:12 - 3:15has passed underneath my eyes.
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3:15 - 3:20I'm a microbiologist, actually,
that's how I got into this business, -
3:20 - 3:27just being fascinated by
the power of the microbial world. -
3:28 - 3:34I'm interested in how consuming
some of these good bacterias, -
3:34 - 3:39these probiotic-types of bacteria
in the form of fermented food -
3:39 - 3:42has that impact in human health.
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3:44 - 3:46Our first products--
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3:46 - 3:51So those little white dots
are actually chemically-pure umami taste. -
3:51 - 3:58There is written documentation
describing natto for over a 1000 years. -
3:58 - 4:02In the West and in America
is virtually unknown. -
4:02 - 4:08It makes me think that if more adults
will come to natto with just an open mind, -
4:08 - 4:14a lot more of them might find
that they actually like it. (chuckles) -
4:15 - 4:20This might be excessive
but I wash them ten times, -
4:21 - 4:24you know, soak them, entertain them,
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4:24 - 4:27and then, dump out the water.
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4:27 - 4:29And then, they sit in the bath overnight,
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4:29 - 4:34so that the beans are able to hydrate.
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4:35 - 4:40They will swell to over twice
their weight and volume. -
4:41 - 4:43When I first learned how to make natto
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4:43 - 4:47from a fifth-generation
natto-maker in Tokio, -
4:48 - 4:51he told me that the most important step
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4:51 - 4:56was to choose the best beans you could
to start with, -
4:57 - 4:59and he was right.
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5:04 - 5:10The best natto soybeans in America
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5:10 - 5:14are grown in the northern midwest,
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5:14 - 5:16mostly in North Dakota.
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5:18 - 5:20And something that
a lot of people don't realize -
5:20 - 5:24is that most of the natto
that is made in the world, -
5:26 - 5:29i.e. the natto that is made
and sold in Japan, -
5:29 - 5:33it's actually, most of it,
is made from US-grown soy, -
5:34 - 5:38and the bulk for that, also,
from North Dakota, specifically. -
5:38 - 5:41We also have black soybeans
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5:41 - 5:46and then, we have another brown bean
which is certified organic. -
5:47 - 5:54Natto soybeans are very different
from the typical commodity soybean. -
5:54 - 5:58That's their non-GMO certified definition.
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5:59 - 6:05But soybeans that are used to make natto
by any decent natto-maker -
6:05 - 6:11are really beans that have been
carefully selected over generations -
6:11 - 6:15to be ideal for this particular
fermentation process. -
6:16 - 6:18♪ (music) ♪
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6:28 - 6:31What makes Nyrture's natto unique:
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6:31 - 6:34Our natto is fresh,
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6:34 - 6:37it's never been frozen,
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6:37 - 6:41unlike all the natto
that is imported from Japan-- -
6:41 - 6:43it's frozen before export.
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6:44 - 6:45That's important,
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6:45 - 6:51one, because freezing and thawing food
can really affect its taste and texture, -
6:52 - 6:58but two, if people are motivated
by eating natto for its health benefits, -
6:58 - 7:01freezing and thawing,
also, significantly damage -
7:01 - 7:03those health benefits, as well.
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7:04 - 7:05(Liza) How is it?
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7:06 - 7:11Good, they're nice and soft,
has some sugar to it, it's sweet... -
7:12 - 7:16It has at least three
completely unique properties -
7:16 - 7:19that are unlike any other food on earth.
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7:20 - 7:23Number one, it's probiotic.
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7:23 - 7:26It's fermented with Bacillus subtilis,
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7:26 - 7:31which is a member
of the healthy gut microbiome, -
7:31 - 7:33so it's a probiotic bacteria
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7:33 - 7:38that isn't found in any other
fermented food certainly in the West. -
7:39 - 7:40The second one is that
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7:40 - 7:46natto is the most concentrated
food source of vitamin K2 -
7:46 - 7:48of any food on earth,
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7:48 - 7:51and it beats any other
by an order of magnitude. -
7:51 - 7:56Vitamin K2 is essential for bone health
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7:56 - 8:00but it's also very important
for cardiovascular health. -
8:00 - 8:04It doesn't matter
how much calcium you eat, -
8:04 - 8:07if you don't have enough vitamin K2
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8:07 - 8:11to help recruit it out of your bloodstream
and bring it to to your bones, -
8:11 - 8:15it accumulates and causes
arterial calcification, -
8:15 - 8:16and leads to heart disease.
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8:17 - 8:22The third reason is that
there's an enzyme named after natto; -
8:22 - 8:25it's called nattokinase,
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8:25 - 8:29and this enzyme is
a natural blood thinner. -
8:30 - 8:34It has an enzymatic activity which,
actually, has been shown -
8:34 - 8:38to be capable of
breaking down blood clots, -
8:39 - 8:43and the only natural source of it
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8:43 - 8:44is natto.
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8:44 - 8:51Well, there are some cardiologists
who are starting to promote natto. -
8:51 - 8:57We're really hoping to work
with healthcare providers -
8:57 - 9:01to educate them and help them
educate their patients. -
9:01 - 9:04Whether your reason is the vitamin K2,
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9:04 - 9:06or the nattokinase content,
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9:06 - 9:08or the probiotics,
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9:08 - 9:14why not at least give it a try
and eat the food which is, -
9:14 - 9:17one, delicious, I think,
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9:17 - 9:20two, cheaper than taking a pill,
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9:20 - 9:24and three, you get all three
of these benefits at once. -
9:24 - 9:31They sit here and age and acquire
flavors in a week or so. -
9:31 - 9:37Many Japanese people have told me
that our natto is the most delicious natto -
9:37 - 9:40that they've ever had
either here or even in Japan, -
9:41 - 9:43which is great to hear.
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9:43 - 9:49I've also gone to
the National Natto Competition in Japan -
9:49 - 9:53and met many natto producers from Japan,
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9:53 - 9:58and also have gotten very high praise
from natto producers in Japan. -
10:00 - 10:03♪ (exciting music) ♪
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10:04 - 10:07I think the favorite moment of mine
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10:07 - 10:12in the entire week-long-process
of making the natto -
10:12 - 10:18is that moment after the fermentation
is complete -
10:18 - 10:22when I get to just pull back the film
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10:22 - 10:25on a fresh tray of natto
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10:25 - 10:28and just see that neba-neba stickiness,
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10:28 - 10:33those spiderwebs
sort of coming off the beans-- -
10:33 - 10:39And sort of, the more resistance
I have from those strings, -
10:39 - 10:43the better I know the fermentation is,
the better the natto, -
10:43 - 10:48so it also serves as a quality control
assessment at the same time, -
10:48 - 10:55but I love that feeling
of the biofilm resisting my pull. -
10:55 - 10:57(laughter)
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10:57 - 11:00♪ (exciting music) ♪
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11:01 - 11:05So yeah, we really look at this
as a long game -
11:05 - 11:08and we're at the very beginning
of it right now -
11:08 - 11:14but I suspect it may take 10 years,
maybe 20 years, -
11:14 - 11:19for natto to become known enough
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11:19 - 11:22for people to recognize it
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11:22 - 11:25as a thing, as a food.
(chuckles) -
11:25 - 11:31It'll take a while and a lot of education,
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11:31 - 11:33and exposure like this,
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11:33 - 11:35to just spread the word.
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11:36 - 11:38♪ (gentle music) ♪
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11:49 - 11:53Our logo... many people
comment on our logo. -
11:54 - 11:57It's actually a mathematical function,
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11:57 - 12:01it's a Fermat's spiral
or a parabolical spiral, -
12:01 - 12:03and I love it because at the center of it
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12:03 - 12:06it kind of look like a ying-yang symbol,
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12:06 - 12:10and to me it represents
the two ingredients in our food, -
12:10 - 12:14the soybean and the probiotic bacteria,
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12:14 - 12:16that are coming together and synergizing
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12:16 - 12:20and making something better,
bigger, more beautiful -
12:20 - 12:22than the two components alone.
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12:23 - 12:26♪ (outro music) ♪
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12:26 - 12:30English subtitles by Jenny Lam-Chowdhury
www.eatingwithmyfivesenses.com
- Title:
- Clearing the Path For the Stinky, Sticky, Beloved Superfood of Japan: NYrture Natto | food. curated.
- Description:
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Meet Ann Yonetani, the founder/owner and microbiologist behind NYrture New York Natto, an artisanal Japanese natto maker located in Brooklyn, NY. If there's one thing that gets Ann excited, it's bacteria. Ask her about it and her face lights up, she adjusts her glasses, her body settles more comfortably in her chair. She could talk for hours about the microbial worlds that symbiotically live inside us and all around us, a passion that both challenges and fascinates her. Not surprisingly, Ann sees herself as a bacteria farmer more than a natto maker (a distinction I find endlessly charming). By cultivating a healthy environment for growing good bacteria, her soybeans actively ferment into the superfood Japanese call: natto. A food jam-packed with nutrients and health/wellness benefits. This is where her evangelism begins.
To Ann's knowledge, only 3-4 small companies make natto in America, a very tiny market compared to Japan where natto is ubiquitous. Walk into any supermarket or corner store in Japan, you'll easily find over a dozen options for natto. It's a savory morning ritual there, traditionally eaten over warm rice often mixed with soy sauce or a raw egg and scallions. "A power breakfast food," Ann explains "their version of a protein shake or acai bowl." But unfortunately, in America, natto has little exposure. It hasn't reached the popularity of Japanese ramen or sushi. Ann wants to change that.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Eating With My Five Senses
- Project:
- Food. Curated.
- Duration:
- 12:30