Food

Taco Bell Who? This Taco Rice Bowl Is the Tacky Repair You Want

May 25, 2025
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Why It Works

  • Seasoning the bottom beef with cumin, chile powder, and paprika—spices sometimes present in taco seasoning—recreates the long-lasting flavors of Tex-Mex-style taco filling.
  • Topping the rice with a gooey cheese sauce as an alternative of grated cheddar ensures creaminess in each chew.

Step inside any Okinawan restaurant, and also you’ll discover taco rice: steaming Japanese short-grain rice topped with floor beef spiced with cumin and chile powder, then layered with a confetti of cheddar cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, chunky salsa, and typically even crushed tortilla chips. Regardless of its Tex-Mex look, taco rice is a signature Okinawan dish that tells a deeper story of how warfare and the US navy have influenced native delicacies.

Earlier than Okinawa—an island chain within the south of Japan—was referred to as Okinawa, it was the Ryukyu Kingdom. With sovereignty over the islands for over 400 years, the Ryukyuan monarchy cultivated its personal customs, delicacies, and native languages (like Uchinaaguchi and Kunigami), a lot of which continues to be current in the present day. The islands didn’t change into part of Japan till 1879, when the Japanese authorities forcefully annexed the territory. After World Struggle II, the US managed Okinawa from 1945 till 1972. Throughout this time, American navy bases—and American tradition—unfold all through the islands. Right now, over 30 US navy bases stay in Okinawa, taking on a few quarter of the land and accounting for greater than 70% of all US navy bases in Japan—one thing Okinawans nonetheless actively protest in the present day.

To enchantment to the big American inhabitants, some native Okinawan eating places and cooks started promoting American-style meals, together with Tex-Mex-style crunchy tacos and root beer floats. One chef, Matsuzo Gibo, began promoting tacos however, eager to provide you with a extra substantial and cheap dish for the various American troopers stationed close to his store, began pairing the taco fillings with rice in 1984.

It was an enormous hit with People, and the dish ultimately grew to become common amongst locals. Taco rice quickly unfold throughout Okinawa and the remainder of the nation, and by the Nineties, it had change into a staple menu merchandise all through Japan. Right now, the Okinawan dish is a well-liked, comforting meal yow will discover virtually wherever in Japan.

Like many culturally vital dishes, the way it’s ready varies from prepare dinner to prepare dinner. I’ve had taco rice topped with nearly nothing however thick chunks of iceberg lettuce and one elaborately ready in a Korean clay pot to imitate the seared rice in bibimbap. The traditional one, nevertheless, stays a private favourite—and apart from one slight tweak, that’s the model you’ll discover beneath.

Much like the traditional, I begin by browning the onion and floor beef. I incorporate a mix of floor cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano, which supplies the meat an earthy, smoky taste just like traditional taco seasoning. Ketchup brings a slight sweetness, including stability. The principle part in my recipe that differs from most traditional variations of taco rice is the cheese. In most iterations of taco rice, you’ll discover thick-grated cheddar cheese piled on high, however right here I make a spiced cheese sauce—impressed by Kenji’s common recipe—to make sure melty, tacky taste in each chew. Like Kenji, I attain for evaporated milk, which helps maintain the melted cheese from clumping, giving the sauce a silky texture.

Taco Bell Who? This Taco Rice Bowl Is the Tacky Repair You Want



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For the Taco Meat:

  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) impartial oil, corresponding to vegetable or canola

  • 1 medium white or yellow onion (7 ounces; 200 g), finely diced (about 1 cup)

  • 2 medium cloves garlic (10 g), minced

  • 1 pound (454 g) floor beef, ideally 80% lean

  • 1 tablespoon (8 g) chile powder

  • 2 teaspoons (7 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons floor cumin

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 4 teaspoons ketchup (about 1 ounce; 25 g)

  • 1 cup (240 ml) water

For the Cheese Sauce:

  • 8 ounces (226 g) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated on massive holes of a field grater

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch

  • 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) evaporated milk

  • 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper

  • 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

To Serve:

  • 4 cups cooked short-grain white rice (25 ounces; 700 g)

  • 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce (6 1/2 ounces; 180 g)

  • 1 massive tomato (11 1/4 ounces; 320 g), halved and sliced (about 1/8-inch-thick slices)

  • Salsa, selfmade or store-bought, for serving

  • Tortilla chips, for serving

  1. In a big nonstick skillet over medium-high, warmth oil till shimmering. Add onion and garlic and prepare dinner, stirring always to keep away from browning, till tender and aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add floor beef and prepare dinner, utilizing a wood spoon to interrupt up meat into small items, till the meat begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

    Critical Eats / Melati Citrawireja


  2. Add chile powder, salt, floor cumin, black pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano, ketchup, and 1 cup (240 ml) water. Cook dinner, utilizing a wood spoon to scrape and stir backside of the skillet. Convey to a boil over excessive warmth and prepare dinner till liquid barely thickens, about 3 minutes. Take away from warmth, season to style, and canopy to maintain heat; put aside.

    Critical Eats / Melati Citrawireja


  3. For the Cheese Sauce: In a medium saucepan, toss grated cheddar with cornstarch to evenly coat. Add 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) evaporated milk, salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Cook dinner on low warmth, whisking always, till melted and clean, about 5 minutes. Take away from warmth.

    Critical Eats / Melati Citrawireja


  4. Divide cooked rice equally amongst 4 plates. High every with taco meat, adopted by the cheese sauce, lettuce, and sliced tomato. Garnish with salsa and crushed tortilla chips.

    Critical Eats / Melati Citrawireja


Notice

For the cheese, if you wish to maintain it traditional, you possibly can skip making the cheese sauce and use 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar as an alternative. To serve, add 1/4 cup of cheddar on high of every serving of beef. The residual warmth of the meat will barely soften the cheese. To get one of the best melty texture, use freshly grated cheddar, ideally on the thicker grated facet. Pregrated, store-bought cheddar has further elements that stop it from as simply melting in comparison with the freshly grated stuff.

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