Oh yes we did: Midsummer Natto Feast
All 32 pounds courtesy of Aloha Tofu, all non-GMO
Full house for Sunday night’s Midsummer Natto Feast, now a four-year-old tradition in Honolulu. Thanks to the ravenous appetites of Hawaii’s Facebook natto lovers group, we’ve had izakaya-style natto, global natto, crazy nouveau Japanese natto, diner-style natto and now, Vietnamese-style natto feasts.
Pig and the Lady’s crew married the famously stinky fermented bean with different kinds of Vietnamese street food, and then some. Whipped together with bone marrow, ikura and black truffle, it was spooned atop crusty baguettes before sake was poured into the marrow bone and drunk, to unanimous approval. And then there was dessert … just scroll down and see.
Full house: 85 hungry natto fiends
She missed two years of slime fests, kept trying. Third time’s the charm
Photo op for the apps
Natto beignet with parmesan and pickled date, and bo la lot of garlicky natto beef rolled in betel leaf and grilled
Bone marrow, black truffle, ikura and natto, spooned onto buttered baguettes
Then the marrow bone comes …
Filled with sake …
Which you drink …
Like this …
… or like this
KITV is very curious. KHON, in back, seems less pleased
Pho-sta tastes and smells like Vietnamese pasta, smeared with lots of natto
Explainer: Cha ca is Hanoi-style grilled fish mixed with rice noodles, dill, peanuts and here, natto chili fish sauce
Mix and eat
2015 Natto King and Natto Queen: They won a natto-themed word search game (she was MUCH faster)
Dessert!
Natto gelato (yes, natto inside and out) with brown butter coconut crumble and bourbon maple sauce
And this, sweet and natto-ey, topped with bacon and more natto
Here’s how we looked on TV!
— Photos courtesy of Kiman Wong and Ed Sugimoto
