Kamo Nanba is a winter noodle dish cherished in Kyoto, combining duck meat and Kujo green onions with soba or udon. "Nanba" is a Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka region) word for green onion, said to derive from the "Namba negi" once cultivated around the Namba area of Osaka. In Kyoto, locally grown Kujo negi, descended from the Namba negi lineage, is used, and the dish is characterized by a broth in which the flavor of green onion — whose sweetness increases with cooking — melds with the rich savoriness of fatty duck meat. It is also known as a dish whose name and written form differ between eastern and western Japan: in the Kanto region it is written "鴨南蛮" (kamo nanban), while in the Kamigata region it is called "鴨なんば" (kamo nanba). At long-established soba shops in Kyoto, it is often offered as a winter-only menu item, cherished as a bowl to enjoy during the cold season.
Origin
"Nanba" derives from a Kamigata word for the "Namba negi" green onion, which was widely cultivated in the Edo period around what is now the Namba area of Osaka. Soba or udon combining green onion and duck meat came to be called "kamo nanba." In the Kanto region it is written "鴨南蛮" (kamo nanban); the Edo-period kokugaku scholar Kitamura Nobuyo wrote in his Kiyu Shoran that "since ancient times, unusual things have been called nanban," and one theory holds that the name derives from calling novel dishes "nanban."
History
Namba negi is said to have been brought to Kyoto and become established as "Kujo negi," and Kyoto soba shops have long served Kamo Nanba made with locally grown Kujo negi. In Edo, a soba shop in Bakuro-cho is said to have commercialized kamo nanban soba during the Bunka era (1804-18), and in the Kamigata region as well, it similarly spread as a bowl beloved by ordinary people, passed down as a signature menu item at long-established soba shops.
Features
The hallmark of Kyoto's Kamo Nanba is the combination of savory, fatty duck meat with Kujo negi, whose sweetness increases when cooked. Duck fat seeps into the soy-sauce-based broth, producing a rich, full-bodied bowl. Many shops pair it with thin Kyoto-style soba or udon noodles, and not a few long-established shops offer it only in winter as a dish to warm the body during the cold season.
Main Ingredients
Famous Shops
晦庵 河道屋
京都市中京区姉小路通麩屋町西入姉大東町556-1
A long-established soba shop said to have been founded during the Kyoho era (1716-36). Kamo Nanba is about 1,450 yen and up.
View details →河道屋銀華 先斗町本店
京都市中京区下樵木町192-3
Founded in 1902 (Meiji 35); known for its Kamo Nanba and kamo-seiro (cold duck soba).
View details →FAQ
Q. What is the difference between "kamo nanban" and "kamo nanba"?
A. They refer to the same duck-and-green-onion noodle dish, but in the Kanto region it is usually called "kamo nanban," while in the Kamigata region — Kyoto, Osaka, and surroundings — it is usually called "kamo nanba." "Nanba" derives from a Kamigata word for green onion.