The reddish-brown food truck has "Fermented Food Sandwiches" written on it. It sells burgers and "Omu Sandwiches" - rice or bread sandwiches with ingredients that use fermented seasonings - at events and facilities in northern Kyoto Prefecture, such as Kyotango City. It also serves fermented fruit drinks.
The business is run by Namba Katsunori (62 years old) and his wife Namba Ritsuko (54 years old). Namba Katsunori said, "We wanted to do something that didn't exist in the world. We want to produce something that can improve the intestinal environment with fermented foods."
Namba Katsunori became interested in fermented foods while making his own pickles and kimchi. He also attended cooking classes in Kyoto City, and took early retirement from the supermarket where he had worked for many years to start a food truck in January 2020 under the name "Namba Fermented Foods."
The name of the food truck is Italian for "With Sincerity," and the color was chosen as the color of the Hankyu train, which Namba Katsunori loves. The Omu Sandwich uses rice from the rice terraces of Sodoshi, Tango-cho, Kyotango City, where Ritsuko Namba's parents live, and is filled with fried chicken seasoned with salt koji. Gapao rice, a Thai dish made with minced meat, is made with miso and Japanese fish sauce instead of fish sauce.
The burger, which uses miso and soy sauce koji in its demi-glace sauce, is named the "Toyosaka Burger" after the Toyosaka district where the couple live. The container is decorated with the school emblem of the old Toyosaka elementary school, reflecting the couple's desire to revitalize the area, which lost its vitality after the elementary school closed in 2019.
Ritsuko Namba is pleased with the results, saying, "We use as few additives as possible, and the taste is gentle on the body. We are happy that some people have come back repeatedly because the food was delicious."
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The location and date of the stall will be announced on Il Cuore Namba Fermented Foods' Instagram. He has also been to Amity Tango (Amino-cho, Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture) and the roadside station "Magokoro Market" (Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture). Omu sandwiches and burgers are 700 yen. Fermented drinks come in grape, pear, orange, and other flavors.
