Taco rice is one of my favorite dishes.  My family eats it all the time because it’s so delicious and easy to make, but the other day it suddenly hit me how international this dish is.  I’d  say it’s a combination of Mexican and Japanese food, with an American feel to it that is probably because it was invented in Okinawa where there is a large American military presence.   Basically, it’s taco fixings on top of rice, rather than in a taco shell.  I know it probably sounds weird, I thought it was weird at first too, but it’s actually surprisingly good!  (and easy to make!)  I really like normal tacos, but I like this even more.  =P  I’ll explain how to make it step-by-step:

Ingredients/Preparation:

  • Rice- Prepare some regular, white rice. (steamed or cooked in a rice cooker)
  • Meat- Prepare taco meat.  The meat that is used for taco rice is not really authentic Latin American taco meat (it’s more like Taco Bell taco meat) BUT, though I’ve never seen it made that way, it would probably work with authentic meat if that’s what you prefer.  In my family, we just brown ground beef, (maybe a little less than one pound of meat per two people) then drain the excess oil/grease that came out of the meat by dumping it into the trash or dabbing it with a paper towel if it’s not that much. Then add some water (approximately 2/3 cup per pound of meat) and stir in the seasonings.  My family uses Lawry’s Hot Taco Spices and Seasonings which comes in a package that we can just dump in.  We always use less than they direct, but if you want it flavorful then you can just follow the directions on the back of the package.  If you don’t have access to or prefer not to use packaged seasonings, then I’m sure there are recipes for taco meat seasonings online.
  • Cheese-Shredded cheese should be used for Taco Rice.  Usually it’s mild cheddar or white cheese (I forgot what it’s called ^^”).
  • Lettuce- The lettuce for Taco Rice is usually thinly sliced (or shredded?) like the lettuce in tacos at Taco Bell.  However, there’s really no right or wrong way to do it.  Just try to make it easy to eat.  My personal preference to cut up a whole head of cabbage (or half of it) into thin strips and then chop them horizontally into large bite-sized pieces.  Sometimes when we’re in a hurry we just tear up some lettuce leaves like you would for a salad.
  • Tomato- chop up a tomato into small chunks.
  • Avocado- chop up an avocado into small chunks. (Technically this is an “extra,” but I don’t think of it that way.  ^^)
  • Extras- You can pretty much put everything and anything you would put on a taco on your taco rice.  Sour cream and salsa are some examples.

How to Eat It:

If you buy it at a restaurant or something then it’ll be ready-made, but in my family we like to put the ingredients on the table and have everyone make their own “haystack” because that way each person can match it to their own appetite and tastes.  Either way, the final “haystack” is made by stacking the ingredients on top of a rice base.  Here’s more detail:

  1. Start by spreading a thick layer of rice on your plate.  This will be the base.
  2. Next spread meat and cheese over it in whatever order you would like.  I don’t know if there’s an official order it’s supposed to be in, but in my family some people put cheese first so that it’ll melt between the hot rice and the hot meat, while others put the cheese on top of the meat which tends to look nicer (and also melts if the meat is hot enough).  At this point you can microwave your “haystack” to melt the cheese if it hasn’t melted and you would like it to.
  3. Spread lettuce over your “haystack.”
  4. Sprinkle tomatoes and avocados on top.
  5. Put on any “extras” that you would like.

Ta-da!  If I remember correctly, they usually give you a spoon to eat it with at restaurants, but in my family we eat it with forks for some reason.  I think it’d probably be easiest to eat with chopsticks though.

Anyway, enjoy the yummy goodness!   =)