Nato is a fermented soybean dish usually served for breakfast in Japan. I had the misfortune to try it my first day here. I was still at the airport hotel, so I picked it up from the buffet line. It was in a cup with a sheet of plastic covering the top. Hmmmm that’s strange I said…. But then I soon figured why it was sealed. It smells like a combination of stinky feet, rotten cheese, and curdled milk. And who’d want that smell filling up the breakfast buffet line?
I tried to be a man about it. I ate about half before I could stand no more. It doesn’t look so bad at first, but when you scoop it to your mouth it starts to become stringy! I then made a vow that I would never eat Nato again.
That same day we met our host family and had a sushi dinner with them. I tried to sample each type. I remember one sushi roll looking a little different then the others. When I ate it I began to feel that sinking feeling, “what did I just put in my mouth”? The familiar taste started to wreak havoc in my mouth. It was a nato sneak attack! It was horrible.
Later that night, and this is absolutely true, I had nightmares about nato. I had dreams were I was being forced to eat it, and I was throwing it back up. I woke up from my dream feeling nauseous. And I have never recovered.
Every time I express my distaste for nato with Japanese people, they always respond with the rote phrase “ Oh, but its really healthy for you”! SO what! I’d rather live a short happy life, then a long life doomed by having to eat nato. Thank you.
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