Kin Town Original · Tex-Mex on Rice
Taco Rice
Photo: Nelo Hotsuma / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
It was invented in 1984 specifically for American servicemen stationed at the nearby Camp Hansen Marine base, by swapping the taco shell for a bowl of rice — now it's eaten across all of Japan, and most people ordering it in Tokyo have no idea it started outside a military gate.
Seasoned ground beef, melted cheese, shredded lettuce and diced tomato are piled over a bowl of plain white rice and finished with salsa or hot sauce, eaten with a spoon rather than folded into a shell.
Why it's made this way: Restaurant owner Matsuzo Gibo created the dish at Parlor Senri in Kin Town, right by the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Hansen, giving American soldiers something taco-flavored without needing taco shells — his family's King Tacos chain still serves the original recipe today.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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