Black natto brunch

Tororo on my bowl of natto…

A nagaimo, a long yamaimo or Japanese yam. Naga means long. We often buy only a cut, but the root is 60 cm long or more.

Grated. Tororo tuto.

Like an apple or an avocado, grated yamaimo tends to oxidate and darken in color. Or not, and that’s not previsible. But that was the case with this one so I’ve added juice of sudachi lime to keep it relatively creamy in color. That’s also a nice flavor addition.

Black natto (fermented soy beans). It’s often paired with grated wasabi.

Natto with rice is a regular breakfast item in Japan. So just that with tororo and green tea. A nice simple brunch.

Kuro-natto, shira-ae. Black beans and white harmony.

Black and white menu. Two Japanese classics.

Natto is cooked soy beans, that are then fermented (originally they were wrapped in rice straw and getting ferment from it, not it’s cultivated like yogurt). Natto is usually brown. This one is make with black soy beans. It’s less strong in taste, more flavorful.

With wasabi. Grated fresh wasabi root.

I put the hot rice on the natto.

Shira-ae, white harmony… White dressing if you prefer. It’s a common type of side-dish.
Basically, it’s silky tofu, mashed, with ground sesame, a little soy sauce, a little sugar. And any kind of veggies you like in it.
You can “dry” the tofu by boiling/nuking it and squeezing in a towel or kitchen paper… or add dashi stock to make it more liquid.
Today, I have powdered a little white sesame in the mortar, added the tofu, a little neri-goma (tahini), very little sugar, soy sauce. And black rice vinegar.
Grated raw carrots, ginger (hidden) and broccoli. Broccoli take and keep the cute color if you plunge them a few seconds in boiling water, then refresh in iced water.