ABSTRACT
Fermented soybean foods made with Bacillus subtilis cells are produced in China, and they are called dou chi (or dauchi). They include salted, sweet, and nonsalted types. The salted type of dou chi (xian-dou chi) contains 10% to 20% salt to inhibit their putrefaction by contaminating bacteria. The most typical sweet dou chi is called tian-dou chi: it is used as a seasoning for Beijing duck. Nonsalted dou chi has been developed into various kinds of natto.1 (See Chapter 16 for more information on Chinese fermented foods.) Food of this type is called itohiki-natto (hereafter shortened to “natto”) in Japan, kinema in Nepal and Myanmar, tua nao in Thailand, and chungkuk-jang in Korea. Natto is produced only with B. subtilis (natto) (formerly called B. natto, see Section 2.1).
