is a Japanese dish

Japanese cuisine

Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...

 and a popular example of Okinawan cuisine

Okinawan cuisine

Okinawan cuisine is the cuisine of the Japanese island of Okinawa. Due to difference in culture, climate, vegetables and other ingredients between Okinawa and mainland Japan, Okinawan cuisine is very different from Japanese cuisine.-History:...

. It consists of taco

Taco

A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety...

-flavored ground beef served on a bed of rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 and lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...

, frequently also served together with tomato, cucumber, cheese and topped off with salsa

Salsa (sauce)

Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...

. Occasionally, it might be served, with rice and all, in a tortilla

Tortilla

In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...

 roll. It is a very common meal on Okinawa, and is often served as school lunch.

Occasionally, the ingredients of taco meat, rice, and cheese are combined, dipped in batter, and fried into a "taco rice and cheese" ball, served with plenty of ketchup

Ketchup

Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...

. This is especially popular at some of the local outlets in Kin, just outside of Camp Hansen

Camp Hansen

Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the north...

 in Okinawa.

KFC put taco rice on its menu throughout Japan in 1996, and Yoshinoya

Yoshinoya

Yoshinoya is the largest chain of beef bowl restaurants and one of the Japanese chains of fast food, which was established in Japan in 1899. Its motto is "Tasty, low-priced, and quick"...

 (nationwide gyudon

Gyudon

, , is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi , soy sauce and mirin . It also often includes shirataki noodles, and is sometimes topped with a raw egg...

 restaurant) serves it in the chain's Okinawan restaurants since 2004. It is one of the most well-known dishes of the Okinawan cuisine outside of Okinawa.

Legend has it that the dish was created in the 1960s by a local chef in Kin, Okinawa

Kin, Okinawa

is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa, Japan.As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 11,037 and a density of 294 persons per km². The total area is 37.57 km²....

, home to one of the United States Marine Corps

Camp Hansen

Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the north...

 bases, who combined the Tex-Mex

Tex-Mex cuisine

"Tex-Mex" is a term used to describe a regional American cuisine that blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans influenced by the cuisines of Mexico. The cuisine has spread from border states such as Texas and those in the Southwestern...

 dish, which was very popular among the American Marines, with the staple diet of Okinawa, rice.

The Tex-Mex flavor is sometimes emulated through the use of soy sauce

Soy sauce

Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...

, mirin

Mirin

is an essential condiment used in Japanese cuisine, consisting of 40%–50% sugar. It is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content—14% instead of 20%. There are three general types. The first is hon mirin , which contains alcohol. The second is shio mirin, which contains...

 and sake.

Taco rice is a popular dish among Marines and Sailors stationed on Okinawa. It is a popular late night food or lunch.