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This simple little trick could be a life-changer if you’re a fan of natto.

You’re bound to come across the infamously stinky, fermented soybean dish known as natto at some point if you spend any time in Japan. At the very least, you’ve probably caught a whiff of the stuff while passing by someone eating it at a Japanese hotel’s breakfast buffet. While I personally love natto and ate it every day when I lived in Japan, its pungent smell and taste do seem to decisively divide both Japanese people and foreigners alike into either the “I love it” or the “I hate it” crowds.

Natto is usually eaten after mixing a little bit of soy sauce and other toppings into the beans and then placing it on top of a bowl of rice. However, before you do that, you must first remove the thin sheet covering the beans in the Styrofoam pack, which can be an extremely frustrating and sticky ordeal. If you’re someone who usually struggles with this step, please pay attention to the following, as it could save you a whole lot of trouble in the future.

True to his handle and actual profession, Japanese Twitter user @magicianhamar recently shared a little piece of magic that he got from his mother, which quickly exploded in popularity online and has been retweeted over 20,000 times.

Ready for it? Watch the short clip below:

Genius! Who knew that removing the wrapper could be so easy?! Other Japanese net users certainly seemed to agree:

“I’ll try twirling my chopsticks like that at dinner tonight!”

“Even though I love natto and eat it almost every day, this is my first time to see this.”

“I saw this trick on a TV show called Ito Family a long time ago!”

“Do people from Kyoto eat natto? I’ve heard that people from the Kansai area don’t like it all that much. Is that true?”

“[@magicianhamar’s response to the above] The people I know don’t hate it (^^)”

Thanks to you and your mother for that little piece of wisdom, @magicianhamar! Maybe now I can eat natto without having to wash my hands after opening the pack.

Source/Top image: Twitter/@magicianhamar