met my mom and wound up back in new jersey because that s where my dad was from, paterson. and i was born and raised there. the school i went to was predominantly caucasian kids. there wasn t many asian-americans at all. right. and i always had this kind of like identity complex. there would be, like, times where people would come to the house. they d say, oh, where s your mom from? is she from china? oh, god, right. open the refrigerator and there would be some weird food. hey, what s that? every time i heard that, i was like, wow, am i, like, am i different? so one day my mom says, we re going back to okinawa on a family trip. i was 17 years old. you d never been up to that point? no, but when i got off the plane, i don t know what it was. it was like, i m here, this is my home. being able to connect my heritage, i felt something. i was like, wow, i belong here. how about the food? what was in that refrigerator? because i know a lot of kids who grew up with that same so
right by camp hansen, one of the larger bases. fight inch by inch to conquer this island. kin is a small slice of americana. both the mainstream america and its dark underbelly. the okinawans made the kind of adjustments like they do. when saddled with neighbors like thousands of marines and and sometime in the 80s adjusted food to as we know it, a mutant classic, taco rice. taco and rice. that s taco rice. wow. it s big. is this chili sauce or ketchup? original taco. it s taco sauce. taco rice sauce. it s a bit spicy. oh, good. but not super spicy. vivian has lived in both the u.s. and okinawa and her aunt, an entertainer who began singing
it sacrifice? yes. uh-huh. masaharu ota is the former governor of okinawa. he was a young conscript in the japanese imperial army. he fought hard and bravely against the allies until he saw japanese soldiers murdering okinawans for food and water and his faith melted away. former governor, the restaurant getowan is a private home turned restaurant serving very traditional okinawan dishes. in honor of their outspoken former governor, the restaurant prepared a dish typically served to royals and vips in which was one the ryukyu kingdom. it s called tundabun after the dish the multi bite-sized swordfish wrapped in seaweed and let s eat.
in american bases after the war. wow, that s good. there are dueling claims as to how taco rice might have morphed into existence, but in the 1980s american servicemen introduced the standard taco to okinawans and her grandfather decided to tweak them. dumping the fillings straight on to rice for the late night crowd of marines coming back from the bars. this unholy, greasy, starchy, probably really unhealthy delight-turned-classic caught on big-time. for both americans missing home and locals. so i consider myself a pretty pro-military guy, but why are the marines here? look, i like marines, but, you know, i m not robert mcnamara, but it seems to me if you go to war with china, send thing
the okinawans have made the adjustments that is saddle thousands of marines, and in the 1980s a adjusted food to this, a mutant classic, taco rice. taco and rice. a that is taco rice. wow. wow. it is is big. is this chili sauce or it is a taco rice sauce and a little bit saucy, but not super spicy. vivian has lived in both the u.s. and okinawa, and her aunt sumiko is an entertainer who began singing in the american bases after the war. wow, that is good. they are dualing claiming as to how the taco rice morphed