Published / Last modified By Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles / 19 Comments
Okinawa Taco Rice is the most iconic Okinawa dish made from white rice topped with delicious taco mince, lettuce, avocado, and tomato salsa!
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Okinawa Taco Rice is the most iconic Okinawa dish. Basically, the meal consists of tasty white rice topped with delicious taco mince, lettuce, avocado, and tomato salsa! It’s basically like an open taco on rice. This Japanese infusion tex mex makes a perfect dish to make in bulk for meal prep or a dinner party!
So What is Taco Rice?
Taco Rice was created in 1984 to serve to the U.S. military personnel stationed in Okinawa. It was designed as a convenient fast lunch and comfort food. The dish is now one of the most well-known Okinawan dishes outside of Okinawa. Taco Rice is basically a scattered tortilla which uses short grain rice instead of a tortilla taco cup. It’s sort of like a hybrid between a taco and donburi which is a Japanese rice bowl dish. These are some of my donburi recipes: Oyako Don, Katsu Don, Tempura Donburi, and Gyu Don.
Homemade Taco seasoning
You don’t need to purchase taco seasoning from shops to make taco rice. Simply just blend chilli powder, onion and garlic powder, dried oregano, corn starch, salt and pepper and combine them well and store in an airtight container. The Pros to make your own is that you can adjust the spiciness, and it is fresher. For instance, I used mild chilli powder and used a moderate amount for mild spiciness, but certainly, you can spice it up if you like spicy hot food.
Taco Rice Toppings
OK so for Okinawa taco rice, as the name suggests we replace taco shells with steamed rice. Then top with shredded lettuce, taco meat, salsa, shredded cheese and avocado. If this is too ordinary, or you are on a restricted diet, you can, of course, alter the recipe to your required diet or taste.
King Tacos
It is on my bucket list to visit King Tacos in Okinawa. King Tacos is famous for its Taco Rice. If you ever have a chance to visit Okinawa I recommend to visit King Tacos where Anthony Bourdain also ate Taco Rice at the shop. If you are interested more about Okinawa read his exploration of Okinawa.
Hope you enjoy my take on Taco Rice as much as I do! It is an extremely tasty meal and very simple to create. Sometimes I only have the energy or time to cook something quick and easy. If you liked my recipe for Taco Rice, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
Taco Rice
Okinawa Taco Rice is the most iconic Okinawa dish made from white rice topped with delicious taco mince, lettuce, avocado, and tomato salsa!
Course: Rice, Rice dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes minutes
Total Time 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 832kcal
Author: Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles
Rate this recipe
4.75 from 8 votes
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Ingredients
- 3 cups of cooked rice
- 2 cups of shredded iceberg lettuce *1
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese *2
- 250 g ground beef beef mince
- 1/2 brown onion
- 1/2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs ketchup
For Salsa
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 purple onion *3
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt and pepper
For Home made Taco seasoning mix
- 1/2 tbs Mild Mexican Chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp dried Oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp corn starch
Metric - US Customary
Instructions
Salsa
Chop up the tomato and onion to make the salsa, combine with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.
Taco beef
Mix all seasoning ingredients and put it in an airtight container. *4
Mix ketchup, 1 tbsp of taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Heat a frying pan over high heat and add olive oil and cook the onion.
Add the beef mince to the frying pan to cook.
Once the ground beef is cooked, add taco seasoning mix to the frying pan and stir.
Bring it to simmer and cook for a further 10-12 minutes to reduce the liquid and allow it to thicken.
Turn the heat off and set it aside.
Serve 1/2 of the rice on a plate or a bowl and place the shredded lettuce, avocado, Taco beef and top with salsa and shredded cheese.
Notes
*1 Does not have to be ice burg lettuce. I used just salad leaves for update photos.
*2 Mozzarella cheese can be substituted the cheese you have in your fridge. I used tasty cheese.
*3 If you don't have purple onion, can be substituted with brown onion like I did.
*4 It will make about 2-3 tbsp mix. This recipe only requires 1 tbsp of the mix.
Nutrition
Calories: 832kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 851mg | Potassium: 963mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 820IU | Vitamin C: 22.7mg | Calcium: 148mg | Iron: 3.8mg
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