Taco Rice: Okinawa's "Tacos on Rice", Born Outside a US Base

Seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce and tomato piled on rice: taco rice was born in Okinawa. Here is why it appeared on a street outside a US base in the 1980s, how it spread through school lunches to the rest of Japan, and how to enjoy it.

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Putting Tacos on Rice

Taco rice is an Okinawan dish that puts taco fillings on a bed of rice. The standard is spiced ground beef ("taco meat") topped with shredded cheese, lettuce and tomato, finished with a spicy tomato-based salsa. Casual diners and lunchbox shops sometimes use ketchup instead of salsa. The name suggests Mexico or the United States, but taco rice was born in Okinawa. Swapping the crunchy taco shell for rice was a simple idea, yet it suited Japanese diners used to eating everything with rice, and today it is one of Okinawa's signature dishes. Some local shops even spell "taco" with a long vowel, as "taako".

Around 1984, in Shinkaichi Outside the Base Gate

Taco rice is said to have appeared around 1984 in Kin Town in central Okinawa Island. Outside the main gate of Camp Hansen, a US Marine Corps base, lay a strip of bars and restaurants called Shinkaichi, and the founder of one shop there is credited with inventing it. At the time, exchange-rate swings had weakened the dollar, and Marines were tight with their money. Tacos were popular at that shop, originally a bar, and to give young servicemen a cheap, filling meal, the owner served the taco fillings on rice. The original shop closed in June 2015, but taco rice had long since spread across Okinawa Island through affiliated restaurants.

From School Lunches to National Chains

School lunches played a big part in making taco rice everyday food for Okinawans. It was adopted in school lunches across Okinawa Prefecture in the 1990s, so children grew up eating it. A dish born outside a base became something the whole island thinks of as its own. From the late 1990s, big mainland chains began adding taco rice to their menus too. Fast-food outlets, beef bowl chains and bento chains each brought out versions, and some that started as Okinawa-only items later reached branches on the mainland. Today taco rice is well enough known that families all over Japan make it at home.

A Dish You Mix, and Its Many Spin-Offs

The basic way to eat taco rice is to mix the rice, taco meat, vegetables and cheese together as you go, adding salsa. In Japan it is often likened to eating a ground-meat rice bowl or dry curry. Start by mixing in a little of the vegetables on top, then add salsa partway through to adjust the heat, and it stays interesting to the last bite. Okinawa also enjoys plenty of variations: stone-grilled taco rice served in a sizzling stone bowl like dolsot bibimbap, taco soba that pairs taco meat with Okinawa soba, and taco-moco, topped with a fried egg like a Hawaiian loco moco. At shops descended from the original, vegetables and cheese are reportedly sometimes optional extras, and a pilaf cooked with chicken or seafood may replace plain rice.

Where to Eat It

For a taste of the original atmosphere, head to the Shinkaichi area outside Camp Hansen's main gate in Kin Town. Eating taco rice on a base-town street of English signs and American-style shops really brings home where the dish came from. It is a convenient stop on the way to northern Okinawa Island. Of course, you can easily find it anywhere in Okinawa, from restaurants around Kokusai-dori in Naha to diners, bento shops, roadside rest stops and cafes. The spiciness and size vary from shop to shop, and big portions can easily be shared between two. Pair it with Okinawa soba and champuru for a route that tastes both postwar Okinawa and the old Ryukyu in one go.

#Taco rice#Okinawa#Kin Town#Camp Hansen#Okinawan soul food