Natto is a traditional Japanese fermented soybean food and it has been part of my daily diet since I was very little. One of the things I love about natto is how versatile it is. While it’s traditionally enjoyed over rice in Japan, I also love adding it to a wide variety of savory dishes.

Here’s my comforting one-pot noodle dish with savory ground pork, garlic, and natto, and it’s so good! I love using green tea soba because of its subtle aroma and beautiful green color, but any variety of soba will be delicious.

This dish comes together in less than 15 minutes and is packed with rich, savory flavor. The ground pork and natto mixture is also delicious served over rice for an easy rice bowl. The key is adding natto at the very end, so the authentic flavor of natto can be enjoyed. But, if you are not too “tolerant” with the strong natto aroma, you can cook it longer so the aroma will dissipate.

I use fresh natto in this recipe, but the dry natto works great, too!