Note on Hamananatto, a Kind of Vegetable Cheese. 



BY 



S. Sawa. 



This peculiar product is prepared from soy-beans, as are 

 also two other kinds of vegetable cheese manufactured in Japan, 

 the Miso and the Natto ; J but it has a different flavour and taste, 

 and lacks the slimy character of the common Natto. It is 

 manufactured only in the central provinces of Japan — especially 

 in those of Mrkawa and Totomi, from which it finds its way all 

 over the country. It has an agreeable salty taste and a peculiar 

 odor somewhat resembling that of the fresh crust of brown 

 bread. There is not any mycelium discernible with the naked 

 eye. The soy-beans composing it form no compact mass, and 

 are of a brown colour with a thin layer of a salty taste and a 

 somewhat sticky consistency. 



In preparing this product, the soy-beans are well washed, 

 boiled to softness, spread on straw mats, and mixed with wheat 

 flour (6 liters flour to 10 liters soy-beans). Moldfungi will 

 now develop, but soon afterwards this mixture is exposed to 

 the direct sunlight for three days, probably to kill the fungi, 

 and is then put into flat tubs. After 12 — 13 days some common 

 salt and ginger are added. The entire mass is then kept in 

 tubs under pressure for about thirty days. 



A portion, carefully freed from the pieces of ginger and 

 particles of straw mats used in its manufacture, was dried, 

 pulverized and sifted through a 0.5 mm. sieve. I found the 

 chemical composition of the dry matter to be as follows : — 



Albuminoid nitrogen 3-57.% 



Crude fat 3-44% 



Crude fibre [.6.87% 



Total carbohydrate excluding cellulose 8.40% 



Total asli including the salt added iS.54% 



1 The composition of Miso was studied liy O. Kellner and M. Nagaoka. Tiul. Col. 

 of Agr. Tokyo, Vol. T., No. 6 ; and that of Natto by K. Yabe, ibid; Vol. IT , No. 2. 



