Taco Rice and Cheese (Okinawa style)

Taco Rice and Cheese (Okinawa style)

Taco Rice and Cheese is the ultimate in hangover food. It's found in its most wonderful and original form in Okinawa. The best place to buy it is the place right outside the Main Gate of Camp Hansen in Kin. They might make the best Taco Rice and Cheese I've ever tasted.....plus, they're stumbling distance from the main gate. That weighs heavily in just how good it is......I think. From what I understand, that place is still standing. It's a little order-out only shack right there to the left as you leave the gate.

Nothing can beat true, mama-san made, Kin-ville Taco Rice and Cheese. But this comes close.

3 cups (raw) sticky rice

1lb ground beef
1 onion
salt
pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 pkg taco seasoning (McCormick's)
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp dried, ground corriander
1 can tomato paste
3/4 cup beef broth
1 (or more) tbsp hot sauce

2 cups (?) shredded cheddar cheese

Prepare rice.

Preheat oven to 350.

Add ground beef and diced onion to a pan. Add salt and pepper, corriander, and chili powder. When beef is browned and onions transluscent, drain off fat. Return to pan. Add garlic, taco seasoning, tomato paste, and broth. Now.....at this point I gave it a taste and realized it lacked some umf. So, I added about 2 tbsp hot sauce to it. You could probably increase the chili powder or add a serrano or jalapeno to the onions. But, I think it needed the vinegar taste of the hot sauce as well. Let cook on low heat for ten minutes.

In a baking dish, layer the rice, then meat mixture, and top with cheese. Put in the oven 5-10 minutes to melt the cheese.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes (normal stumbling time into the gate and to the barracks.....for some reason, it did taste more like Okinawa Taco Rice and Cheese after sitting a bit.....seriously). Serve. Mmmmmm. Okinawa.