Soy, if you haven’t heard, is amazing. And few cultures appreciate this fact as fully as Japan, where the unassuming legume has been widely cultivated, processed, cooked, fermented, stewed, steamed, curdled, baked, boiled, and ultimately consumed in myriad forms for hundreds (probably thousands?) of years. In America, I think soy is generally misunderstood. People tend to think of soy products as very good-for-you stuff, yes, but also vaguely artificial and blander than Wonder bread; the bean’s bounties are often relegated to that ill-lit corner of the gastro-hegemony labeled “health food,” where only the most dreary-eyed nerds, hippies, and uncool moms loiter awkwardly about.
But in Japan, as in many other east and southeast Asian nations, soy gets the respect it deserves: as a popular happy hour snack (edamame), an umami-rich condiment (soy sauce), an ingredient in sweet and nutty desserts (kinako), a sticky and pungent breakfast item (nattō), and so much more!
