''Kinema'' () is a fermented soybean food, prepared by the Nepali communities of the Eastern Himalayas region:

Eastern Nepal The Eastern Development Region (Nepali: पुर्वाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र, ''Purwānchal Bikās Kshetra'') was one of Nepal's five development regions. It is also known as Kirata region. It was located at the ...

, and

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, Kalimpong and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Kinema is a traditional food of the

Limbu people The Limbu (exonym) or Yakthung (endonym) are a Sino-Tibetan indigenous tribe (Bhot-Burmeli) of the Himalayan region of eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and western Bhutan. The original name of the Limbu is ''Yakthung'' () or ''Yakthum''. Limbu males ar ...

, as well as people of other Kirati communities.

Etymology and history

The word ''kinema'' is believed to be derived from the tribal Limbu word ''kinambaa'', where ''ki'' means fermented and nambaa means flavour. It is a traditional food of the

as well as people of other Kirati communities. It is also called ''chembihik'' and ''hokuma'' in

Bantawa language The Bantawa Language (also referred to as An Yüng, Bantaba, Bantawa Dum, Bantawa Yong, Bantawa Yüng, Bontawa, Kirawa Yüng), is a Kirati languages spoken in the eastern Himalayan hills of eastern Nepal by Kirati Bantawa ethnic groups. They use ...

. According to Indian microbiologist

Jyoti Prakash Tamang Professor Dr. Jyoti Prakash Tamang (born 16 November 1961) is an Indian food microbiologist, working on fermented foods and alcoholic beverages of the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Bhutan and South East Asia for last 36 years and the Seni ...

, kinema is estimated to have originated around 600 BC to 100 AD during Kirat dynasty rule, introduced by

Consumption

The slimy, odorous product of fermentation is traditionally prepared into a soup that is consumed with rice, but can also be turned into a savoury dip or a pungent side dish to be consumed along with rice or bread. Kinema is traditionally prepared at home, but now it is sold in local markets and even retailed online as a dried product.

Nutritional value

''Kinema'' is considered a healthy food because fermentation breaks down complex proteins into easily digestible

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

s. The product is alkaline with pH of 7.89, unlike soyabean which has a pH of 6.75. It has 62% moisture content. 48 g of protein, 28 g of carbohydrate, 17 g of fat and 7 g of ash is found in every 100 g of dry kinema. The energy value of ''Kinema'' is 2 MJ per 100 grams. Free fatty acidity in kinema is found to be about 33 times higher than raw soybeans.

Similar foods

Many other Asian countries have fermented soyabean dishes, such as ''shuǐdòuchǐ'' of China, ''

cheonggukjang Cheonggukjang () is a traditional Korean food made by fermenting soybeans. It contains whole, as well as ground soybeans. Production It can be made in two to three days through fermentation of boiled soybeans, adding ''Bacillus subtilis'', wh ...

'' of

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, ''

tempeh Tempeh or tempe (; jv, ꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦥꦺ, témpé, ) is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, '' Rhiz ...

'' of

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nattō , spelled as natto in standard English language use, is a traditional Japanese food made from whole soybeans that have been fermented with ''Bacillus subtilis'' var. ''natto''. It is often served as a breakfast food with rice. It is served wi ...

of Japan, ''thua nao'' of

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, ''

tungrymbai Tungrymbai or tung rymbái or "tungtoh" is a fermented soybean food traditionally prepared by the Khasi and Jaiñtia peoples of Meghalaya, Northeast India. Production The soybeans are washed then boiled until they are soft. After boiling, the ...

'' of

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, ''hawaijaar'' of

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, ''bekangum'' of

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, ''

akhuni ''Akhuni'' ( Nagamese: ), also known as ''axone'', is a fermented soybean product commonly used in Naga cuisine. ''Axone'' is perhaps the most commonly used fermented product of Nagaland and the North Eastern Region of India. Etymology T ...

'' of

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, and ''piak'' of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

. Kinema forms one of the vertices of the "natto triangle" proposed by the Japanese ethnobiologist Sasuke Nakao. Jyoti Prakash Tamang proposed a extended ‘KNT (Kinema-Natto-Thua Nao) triangle', connecting the fermented soyabeans across

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Nakao considered Yunnan region of China to be the origin place of fermented soyabean technique, as the center of the triangle falls in that region.

References

{{Soy, state=collapsed Nepalese cuisine Fermented soy-based foods Limbu culture

Etymology and history

Consumption

Nutritional value

Similar foods

See also

References