I'm fessing up: I tend to go through minor obsessions.
If I'm reading a tremendously wonderful book, I'll finish it and then re-start it, and repeat this process 3 or 4 times, until the entire thing lives, nearly word-for-word, in my memory. If there are sequels to this book, I'll read them 3 or 4 times each as well. Bob thinks this is utterly insane of me, but he has learned long ago to just ignore me as I read the last page in a 700 page book, scratch my nose, then turn back to page 1 and start all over again.
If I am in the mood for a specific food, say ochazuke (white rice, topped with a mixture of flaked salmon, sesame seeds and seaweed, with hot green tea poured over the whole thing, turning it all into a lovely soup. Typically served in Japan as the final course at a dinner or get together and a subtle signal to guests that it is nearly time to go home), well, I'll have ochazuke every day for breakfast or lunch....until the obsession passes.
This pattern of minor obsessions continues for movies, tv shows, beverages, writing topics, drawing subjects and especially comfortable t-shirts. If I'm in the mood for something, I delve into it all the way.
This personality disorder of mine lends itself well to teaching. If I have to cover a subject, I'll pour myself into it 100%, researching, creating lessons, buying all sorts of weird stuff to make the subject exciting for my tots.
At home, this approach typically gets me teased. If I'm on one of my BBC show kicks, Bob (and now Patrick, but not Aya, who typically remains my staunch ally), will pop his head in and taunt me in a voice that, oddly enough, resembles a mixture of Julia Childs and Emma Thompson.
(But that's okay. I can handle it. And I have ways to get my revenge if they get too annoying....)
This week's obsession has been the Discovery Channel show 'Mythbusters'. I absolutely love gulping down science trivia and facts. And Netflix has nearly 80 Mythbusters episodes all lined up, just begging me to watch them. Add to this Youtube's library of outtakes and follow up snippets, and, well, my obsession has been well fed.
This morning, however, I stepped out of my obsession further than I usually do. I actually submitted a myth.
Because I have been doing a lot of grocery shopping. And when I do my grocery shopping, I invariably end up wandering down the aisle that contains NATTO. When I see the natto, I can feel my face scrunch up just a little. I suspect this has become an involuntary reaction, I'm sad to say.
Natto is simply fermented soybeans. It is sold in small flat plastic boxes. The first thing you notice about natto is the smell. One can tell exactly when someone has opened a box of natto. It smells, logically enough, like something that has fermented. And not in a really good way either. The next aspect of natto is the texture. It is swimming in gluey, stringy goo. Viscous. Grab some natto on your chopsticks and start lifting it into the air...the strings follow....for many many inches/centimeters.
Now all this aside, I am well aware that I am viewing natto through western eyes and tastes. I can step back and understand how someone could get to love natto. Japanese people usually can't abide root beer or American style peanut butter either, so it all balances out. And I have wonderful and lovely friends who adore natto. So let me assure you all that my dislike for natto is entirely personal.
Natto is typically eaten at breakfast, served over rice with soy sauce and a raw egg. The natto eater whips this mixture up with chopsticks and then eats it. I have personally eaten natto in this way. So has Bob. Way back in 1996 both of us were teaching at a junior high girls summer camp for a weekend. The principal of one of the schools called us over at breakfast time one day, and proceeded to show us how to eat natto. And manners dictated that we, of course, had to eat natto as well. Which we did.
That was the first...and last ....time we ate natto.
Fast forward to 2005. Aya and Patrick were attending a Japanese public elementary school. One of the school lunches served at least once a week included natto.
Which Aya actually liked.
And which Patrick utterly refused to eat.
At any rate, over the years I have stumbled upon magazine articles, you tube videos and tv shows that touched upon the miracle powers of natto. These include:
chemicals that fight cancer
easing symptoms of dementia
thinning blood clots
antioxidants
helping with kidney function
reducing symptoms of aging
The list could go on and on.
I have also uncovered a multitude of ways that people enjoy natto: in soups, atop noodles, rolled into sushi, accenting tofu, spread into sandwiches and disguised within tempura batter. One you tube show I found, from a natto company located in California, demonstrated ways to incorporate natto into salsa as well as guacamole.
Oh my goodness.
Over ramen and coffee this morning (I am on a ramen obsession this week. Bear with me) I found myself wondering if natto really was "all that and a bag of chips". Did I have to actually eat soybeans in natto form to get these wonderful effects? Could I also get the same benefits from eating edamame (boiled soybeans)? Drinking miso soup?
So I toddled over to my computer, fired up the Mythbusters website, and posted my three questions: (1) Does eating natto bring a person ALL these health benefits? (2) Is there a way to make it taste (and feel) better? and (3) Could I get the same benefits from eating soybeans in another way?
Now, I'm not expecting any warm personal emails from any of the Mythbusters. But hey, I'd love to see some of them try to come up with some natto recipies...and do some taste tests. For now, I find my questions are earning me a trickle of comments and suggestions from other equally demented Mythbusters fans, such as myself.
While I wait for my 10 seconds of Mythbuster fame, I'm going to go have some ramen.
Until next time....
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