Foothill Ferment · Fermented Soybean Paste
Keeneyma
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It's Bhutan's answer to Japanese natto — sticky, pungent fermented soybeans that eastern families have kept as a closely guarded kitchen secret for generations.
Boiled soybeans are wrapped and left to ferment for several days until sticky and intensely savory, then pounded into a paste with chili and other seasonings to eat alongside rice or kharang. It's a homemade condiment in the warmer foothill villages of eastern Bhutan, rarely sold and mostly passed down through family kitchens.
Why it's made this way: The soybean thrives in the warmer, lower-altitude foothills of eastern Bhutan in a way it can't in the colder west, and fermenting it into keeneyma turned a humble bean into the deep, umami backbone of the region's meals.
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