Taco Bell who? This taco rice bowl is the solution to the cheese you need

Enter any Okinawan restaurant, and you will find Taco rice: short japanese grain rice baked with cumin chopped beef and chili powder, then in layers with a cheddar cheese confetti, grated iceberg lettuce, trenched tomatoes, large, crushed salsa. Despite its Tex-Mex appearance, Taco Rice is a dish of Okinawa Signature which tells a deeper story about the way in which the American war and the army influenced local cuisine.

Before Okinawa – an island chain south of Japan – was called Okinawa, it was the kingdom of Ryukyu. With sovereignty over the islands for over 400 years, the Ryukyuan monarchy has cultivated its own customs, cuisine and mother tongues (such as Uchinaaguchi and Kunigami), a large part of which is still present today. The islands only became part of Japan until 1879, when the Japanese government enforced the territory forcefully. After the Second World War, the United States checked Okinawa from 1945 to 1972. During this period, US military bases – and American culture – were spread in the islands. Today, more than 30 American military bases remain in Okinawa, taking about a quarter of land and representing more than 70% of all the American military bases in Japan – something from Okinawans still protests today.

To please the large American population, some local restaurants and chefs from Okinawan have started to sell American-style food, including crunchy Tex-Mex-style tacos and root beer tanks. A chef, Matsuzo Gibo, began to sell tacos but, wanting to offer a more substantial and inexpensive dish for the many American soldiers parked near his shop, began to associate taco trim with rice in 1984.

It was a huge success with Americans, and the dish finally became popular among the inhabitants. Taco Rice quickly spread to Okinawa and the rest of the country, and in the 1990s, he had become a basic menu element throughout Japan. Today, the Okinawa dish is a popular and comforting meal that you can find almost everywhere in Japan.

Like many culturally significant dishes, the way it is prepared varies from a cook to cook. I had Taco rice overcame almost nothing but thick pieces of Iceberg lettuce and an elaborated in a elaborate manner in a Korean clay pot to imitate burned rice in the bibimbap. The classic, however, remains a personal favorite – and with the exception of a slight adjustment, this is the version you will find below.

Similar to the classic, I start by brown the onion and the chopped beef. I incorporate a mixture of ground cumin, smoked paprika and oregano, which gives the meat a soil and smoked soil similar to the seasoning of classic tacos. The ketchup brings a slight sweetness, adding the balance. The main component of my recipe which differs from most standard versions of TACO rice is cheese. In most of the taco rice iterations, you will find thick oily cheddar cheese stacked on top, but here I make a spicy cheese sauce – inspired by the popular Kenji recipe – to ensure a melting and cheesy flavor with each bite. Like Kenji, I reach the evaporated milk, which helps to prevent the melted cheese from aggregating, giving the sauce a silky texture.

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