natto

American  

[not-oh] / ˈnɒt oʊ /

noun

Japanese Cooking.

1. a dish of fermented cooked soybeans, often eaten for breakfast over white rice or with toppings such as soy sauce and mustard.

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Etymology

Origin of natto

First recorded in 1870–75; from Japanese, from na(t)- (ultimately from Middle Chinese; cognate with Cantonese naap, Mandarin nà “to bring into, receive”) + tō “bean” ( bean ( def. ) )

Example Sentences

However, the condiment's polarising taste has landed it in the Disgusting Food Museum in Sweden - alongside natto, stinky tofu and monkey brains.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

Like the famously frugal Buffett, Imura is also thrifty, taking public transport in Tokyo and regularly eating eggs, bananas and "natto", or fermented soybeans, for their "cost performance".

From Reuters • Jan. 13, 2023

Fermented foods such as kimchi, kombucha, kefir, natto, sauerkraut or pickles have a beneficial impact on the gut microbiome.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2021

Few foods paint upon the blank canvas of a bowl of rice quite as brilliantly as natto.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2021

Those in the highest one-fifth for natto intake, but not miso, had an 18 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease death, possibly because of the lower sodium content of natto.

From New York Times • Jan. 29, 2020