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Soy and legumes from Japan, Hamamatsu

Hamanatto / Daitokuji natto / tera natto (salted mold-fermented soy nuggets of Japan)浜納豆

Hamanatto and its Kyoto relative Daitokuji natto are salty, dark soybean nuggets made with koji mould, not natto bacteria. Steamed soybeans are coated with flour and koji spores, grown into soybean koji, aged for months in salt water under a pressing lid, then dried in the sun. The whole process takes about six months, and the taste is close to miso.

DocumentedSoy and legumes2.1 months – 6.1 months

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo published amounts. The steps follow a Toyohashi maker's account to MAFF and the Soyinfo Center account of the Yamaya and Horinji makers.
Yellow soybeans[SIC-nuggets]
Koji mould spores (Aspergillus oryzae) mixed with roasted wheat flour (roasted barley flour at Daifukuji)[SIC-nuggets2][MAFF-tokai]
Salt water[SIC-nuggets][MAFF-tokai]
Spices, seeds or slivered ginger (sometimes rice wine)Added to the kegs with the salt water[SIC-nuggets]
Starterkoji (Aspergillus oryzae)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months – 6.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Soaked soybeans steam until soft

Step 1 of 4
Soak and steam the soybeans
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds

Output: steamed beans, drained and cooled.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
soft
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

killed

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Hamanatto and its Kyoto relative Daitokuji natto are salty, dark soybean nuggets made with koji mould, not natto bacteria. Steamed soybeans are coated with flour and koji spores, grown into soybean koji, aged for months in salt water under a pressing lid, then dried in the sun. The whole process takes about six months, and the taste is close to miso. Made in 4 steps over 2.1 months – 6.1 months. The longest step, age in salt water under a pressing lid, takes 2–6 months (Shurtleff & Aoyagi. History of Soy Nuggets (S…). Aspergillus oryzae, the koji mould also used for miso does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–6 monthsReported[SIC-nuggets2]Age in salt water under a pressing lid
Temperature25–38 °CReported[SIC-nuggets2]Coat with flour and koji spores; make soybean koji

What makes this one different

Despite the name, it is not a natto. It is made with the koji mould of miso, not with natto bacteria, and it is brined and sun-dried into dry, salty nuggets instead of sticky beans. It is thought to descend from Chinese douchi.

Whole process
Soaking and steaming, koji making, brining and sun-drying take about six months in all (a Toyohashi maker)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Daitokuji natto (Kyoto)the name Daitokuji natto dates from the early 1400s [SIC-nuggets]
  • Hamanatto (Hamamatsu)Daifukuji called it kara-natto until about 1730, then Hamana-natto after Lake Hamana; Yamaya coined Hamanatto in 1868 [SIC-nuggets2]
  • Shiokara natto (Kumamoto)barley koji, cracked soybeans, kombu and ginger, wrapped in a reed mat [SIC-natto3]

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Character 豉 read 'kuki' in 8th c.; 'natto' replaced kuki by 11th c. (Shinsarugaku-ki c. 1068 'natto' = this salty type) [SIC-nuggets, SIC-natto1]. Thought to descend from Chinese douchi brought by monks. A Toyohashi maker, the only one left of six in the city, says hamanatto is said to have 1,300 years of history [MAFF-tokai].

  1. [SIC-nuggets] Shurtleff & Aoyagi. History of Soy Nuggets (Shih/Chi, Douchi, Hamanatto)book
  2. [SIC-nuggets2] Shurtleff & Aoyagi. History of Soy Nuggets (Shih/Chi, Douchi, Hamanatto), page 2book
  3. [SIC-natto1] Shurtleff W, Aoyagi A. History of Natto and Its Relatives. SoyInfo Centerbook
  4. [SIC-natto3] Shurtleff W, Aoyagi A. History of Natto and Its Relatives. SoyInfo Centerbook
  5. [MAFF-tokai] MAFF Tokai Regional Agricultural Administration Office, TOKAI ミニコミ, interview with Kunimatsu Katsuko of 國松本店 (Toyohashi), 1300年の歴史がある発酵食品「濱納豆」, 2023gov