I've always found myself fascinated with the extremely odd regional eats. I'm not even talking about beef bile or bull penis but rather the downright weird food concoctions that are local to regions across the globe. One of the funner ones I've come across is Okinawa style Taco Rice. It comes from Japan where they have an entire cuisine dedicated to their interpretation of Western style cuisine. It's specifically regional to Okinawa which is where the US military still holds down a fort. That's pretty much how it came to be as US soldiers missed their Taco Bell type fix and Japanese entrepreneurs took note of it. Nowadays it's a dish that's found all over the island and enjoyed by both Military personnel and native Japanese locals. There's plenty of info online about this unique Okinawan dish.
The Place in Okinawa said to have started the Taco Rice trend (Pic from theselfishyears.com)
Along with plenty of info on it's history you'll also come across lots of recipes. I guess you might need these if you've never cooked up a Taco Tuesday type gringo taco dinner but if you have you're good to go. Just substitute white rice for the hard shells and you're ready to roll. When I make gringo ground beef tacos I like to mix some onions into the meat when it browns as well as some fresh diced jalapeno if I have one. I use a taco blend mix from The Spice House here in Chicago or Central Market which I pick up when in Texas. I also like to use a little bit, maybe 1/4 cup, of taco sauce to season it up and make sure it's not too dry. Once your taco meat is ready make sure the white rice is the same and layer the beef on top of the rice and dress as you would a taco. I like to add diced pickled jalapeno as well as Cotija cheese with the standard toppings of lettuce and tomato. Serve with sour cream on the side. It's actually pretty good esp. if you already enjoy gringo tacos and or rice bowls. I dont have kids but I imagine this is something they would eat up. Yoshoku food at it's finest.
King T's Taco Rice
___________________________________________________________________
See ya next time @chibbqking
No comments:
Post a Comment