After re-reading this post, written before my current fermented-food craze, I decided to see if I could buy natto (fermented soybeans) in Berkeley. At Whole Foods, they didn’t know what it was. Nor did they sell it. At Berkeley Bowl, which Saveur magazine recently seemed to say was the best food market in America, they told me it was in Aisle 3. I looked and looked and couldn’t find it. Okay, frozen natto is in Aisle 7, I was told. There was a surprisingly large selection, maybe 10 choices. Frozen natto comes in one-serving plastic containers bundled into packages of two or three that look like this:
That’s a two-container bundle. One serving is about $1.
Introduction to natto.
Thank you so much for your insightful tip. I tried several time to find Natto at Berkeley Bowl but none turned up. After reading your post I went straight-away and found one with out cornsyrup nor msg.
I’m crazy for natto. As far as I understand it, in the US, all natto imported from Japan is frozen, in those little individual boxes. I never bought it because ecologically it’s so lousy, so it always made sense to eat locally available/easily makeable fermented foods- sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir. Natto is tricky to make at home. Then lo and behold the receptionist at my dentist’s office told me there is an outfit in western MA who makes it (and miso) and ships mail order. It’s the only domestic source I know of. Kendall Foods. Only answers the phone on Mondays (brilliant!) : 413 238 5928.
thanks, Oslo, that’s good to know. I was surprised to see that natto in Cambridge was a lot cheaper than natto in Berkeley, even though Cambridge is further from Japan. There is someone making natto near Berkeley whom I will soon interview on my blog.
Hi! From the first time I tasted natto I loved it; which highly amused the owners of the Japanese market where I tried it in a sushi roll. Americans weren’t supposed to like it. I bought it there for years and then they went out of business. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere in New York…in fact when I ask for it in local Asian and Korean markets they don’t even know what it is. Do you have any addresses in the USA where I can order it? Thanks!
try Japan Traditional Foods:
https://www.gourmet-natto.com/
I have not been able to find natto that does not have high fructose corn syrup in it. Even the organic one I bought at the local market had it. Any idea where to order it?
nice try, spammer. Natto never contains high fructose corn syrup.
Correction: sometimes it does.
Seth, where can I purchase natto by mail or phone? I’m in North Carolina.
I don’t know. I’ve never done that. Is there a Whole Foods near you? they might have it.