lunch, taco rice

Okay, I tried the caramelized pudding. It was rich & creamy and the caramel sauce on top gave it sweetness. Luckily, I paired it with coffee. :)

Today, for breakfast we had taco rice. For those of you not familiar with the dish, it is somewhat of a "meibutsu" (famous item) of Okinawa.

Influenced by the American military based soldiers there, you can find tacos and taco rice on the mainland of Okinawa. Some of the smaller outer islands have taco rice but it is rare, and everyone's recipe is definitely different (Note: but they don't use okonomiyaki sauce in place of salsa!!)

Rice replaces the taco shells or tortillas, the rest of the "gu" (toppings) are similar to tacos. (I buy taco seasoning mix packets everytime I go home to Hawaii. That way, I can make taco rice and Satoshi's favorite layered bean dip--which is a hit at some parties we have gone to.)

I season ground pork (I don't use much beef since BSE in Japan) and chopped onions with a tablespoon of the seasoning. Then I shred lettuce and put that on top of the rice, followed by the meat mixture, SALSA and then some shredded cheese (usually mozzarella since there isn't much cheddar around here).

You may be asking yourself, why are they eating taco rice for breakfast? Since Satoshi works until the wee hours, I usually don't feed him rice or too much carbs at night. When he comes home, he usually has a salad and maybe some soup. So, I try to give him "dinner" for breakfast.

For lunch, I usually buy something, but today, I was feeling kind of bored with my choices...usually I go to different "panya" (bread/bake shops), but most of the baked goods are the same as the next shop and all usually use bacon, sausages or some other artery clogging ingredients.

When I'm not buying my lunch from there, I usually go to the "sozai" shop. "Sozai" are prepared foods, the shop I usually go to sells their food by weight, which is good, because you can buy the amount you need...my last choice is usually some other kind of "fast food"...but none of these were appealing to me today, so I decided to "make" lunch (scary!!)...I made omelette with green onion (I think they may call it "negi yaki") and topped it with some okonomiyaki sauce and bonito flakes, o-kayu (soft rice gruel) topped with leftover naruto kintoki (maybe too much potato and not much o-kayu??) and some black sesame seeds (kuro goma). I also took out some tsukemono (pickles)--rakkyo (pickled onions) and ume (pickled plum). I washed everything down with some Mamaki tea.

Have a nice weekend!!