Natto, avocado and tofu on Belgian endive チコリの納豆、豆腐とアボカドの乗せ

Sometimes, what we have dictates what I can make. I bought 4 avocados last weekend but all of them were now quite ripe. If I missed this moment of avocado perfection, they would become mushy, start developing blemishes in a hurry and guacamole would be inevitable. Of course, just nanoseconds before this moment, they were rock hard. In fact, two of them had passed into guacamole land. Another graced a sandwich for the next day's lunch. I made this dish from the last avocado. I came up with this dish since I happened to have a small container of Otokomae tofu and frozen natto in the freezer. In addition, my wife, after many years of abstention, has now come around to eating natto.

This is a simple spur-of-the-moment quick dish. Did I tell you I also had Belgian endive? (which is called "Chikori" or chicory in Japan. Chicory in the U.S. usually means a root of this plant which is used as a coffee substitute or additives).

In any case, this is not a recipe. I just prepared nattou as usual using the seasoning liquid and mustard packets that came with the natto. I just added chopped scallion and mixed it using my nattou mixing contraption well. I removed the stone, skin and cubed the avocado and dressed it with lemon juice and placed the pieces on the endive leaves. I added a few small scoops of soft otokomae tofu and placed a dab of real wasabi on top. Just before eating, we sprinkled on soy sauce and mixed with a small spoon. We ate this with our fingers; picking up the endive leaves. (A word of advice: Start eating from the soft tip of the leaves, otherwise, the leaves will not hold the contents. You do not want to spill nattou on your shirt).

This is not bad at all. The combination of avocado, silken tofu, and nattou is remarkably good. With nattou, sake is the recommended libation.