Daitokuji-Natto
Daitokuji-nattō ( Japanese 大 徳 寺 納豆 ) are a local delicacy ( chinmi ) of Japanese cuisine from the area around the Daitoku-ji temple in Kyōto . It is a kind of Tera natto , d. H. with kōji ( Aspergillus oryzae ) inoculated and salted soybeans , which are then fermented.
According to legend, the dish goes back to the priest and Rinzai - Zen master Ikkyū Sōjun (1396–1481). He became abbot of the Daitoku-ji temple district in northern Kyoto in 1474 and is said to have passed on the recipe handed down from China to students. At that time, today's manufacturing company Ikkyū was founded.
The entire annual requirement must be produced within a few days at the end of July, if the sunlight is sufficient to dry the product quickly in the usually humid Japanese air. The total amount of original Daitokuji-Nattō is therefore very limited, so that they cost about three times as much as comparable products from other origins.
Manufacturing
Cooked soybean paste and roasted barley flour are mixed with mold spores (Kōji) of the species Aspergillus oryzae and rolled into balls about 2 cm in size.
These are left to ferment in flat wooden crates, then dried in the sun, soaked in brine and then dried again. Then they are chopped up and shaped into raisin-like portions. The entire production takes about 3 months.
A similar product is made in the Ikkyū-ji temple south of Kyoto.