Kinema

Kinema is a soy fermented product prepared from soybean (brown or white) indigenous to Nepal. It's mostly prepared and consumed by limbus of eastern Nepal especially in the hills. The preparation is limited to household level. Methods followed for its preparation are often subject to variation. Some of the more important factor contributing to variation are locality, convinience, availability of raw material and processing steps.

Kinema preparation is a relatively simple process. The process involves cooking of soybean, cooling to room temperature, mixing with small amount of vegetable ash , wrapping in sal leaves or banana leaves and leaving for 2-3 days in warm place for fermentation. The beans are usually mashed in a wooden pestle or macerated with hands so as to split them apart. A well fermented kinema has a slimy appearance tend to form cake and has persistent nutty to musty flavor. The preparation has a very short self life of 2-3 days at room temperature.