Q: I just moved to Okinawa, and everyone keeps telling me I’ve got to try the taco rice. So, what is it? A rice taco? Taco-flavored rice? Is it the same thing as Mexican rice? What’s up with that?

A: Some things were just meant to go together. Peanut butter and jelly. Cookies and milk. Rice and … tacos?

You might not think so, but it’s a marriage made in food heaven. You start with a bed of fluffy Japanese rice, top that with lettuce, then pile on your basic taco toppings — spicy ground beef, tomatoes, cheese, maybe some cucumbers and salsa. Voila: taco rice. Dig in! (With a spoon, not with chopsticks.)

So how did these two end up together? Through the matchmaking efforts of U.S. servicemembers. Local chefs who were used to cooking for American palates cooked up an interracial romance by combining the most of ubiquitous of Japanese staples — rice — with an Americanized version of Mexican food. The result: a dish that’s uniquely Okinawan.

You can find taco rice pretty much anywhere on the island. It’s almost always on the menu at restaurants and food stands, and it’s a fixture at chains Yoshinoya and KFC. (Yes, that KFC.)

Rumor has it that taco rice — just like fast-food tacos in the States — is especially tasty after a night of drinking. Not that we’d, um, know that firsthand or anything.

Got questions about goings-on in the Pacific? E-mail at willenbrechtk@pstripes.osd.mil.

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