Taco Heaven in Japan
Last time I mentioned that the word "taco" (tako) happens to mean something very different in Japan: octopus. The Japanese get around any confusion related to this by always referring to the Mexican version in the plural, as tacos, which takes some getting used to when you're talking about just one. Sadly, tacos and all other forms of Mexican food are almost completely absent from Japan, and the closest thing you can find are the Twisters from KFC, which aren't that bad if you keep Taco Bell sauce in your car like I do. Imagine my surprise when I went to the local home center over the weekend and saw a real live taco stand set up, selling authentic "Mexican Tortilla Tacos." Every food must adopt to meet the tastes and expectations of the locals, however, so there were some changes to the tacos. These included the option of choosing sweet chili or Italian sauce instead of salsa, and fresh cabbage and cucumbers instead of lettuce -- yum. I certainly hope the taco stand does well so we can enjoy this special treat in the future, which folks in the U.S. are able to take for granted.
What a glorious sight to a starving gaijin!
It took me a while to figure out that "avocado sauce" was guacomole
It didn't look like I quite expected, but...
it was great!
posted by Peter in Japan at 8:27 PM
8 Comments:
Those tacos look closer to the original mexican tacos than taco bell's. In fact there are places here in Mexico where you can find tacos made with arabian breath (I don't like it much) and those look even closer to those in the pictures.
At least I know that if someday I go to japan I wont starve eating row fish and rice XD
Thanks for sharing.
12:59 AM
it's hard to believe that taco bell hasn't showed up there. my understanding is that taco bell is owned by KFC, and you have plenty of those. do you still get the little sauce packs from Guam? Seems like you told that story once, how you can get American products down there.
2:24 AM
Petey I have followed your blog for a few months. I love to eat (who doesn't ?!?), but being born and raised in California, Mexican food is my favorite. My three years in Japan and I never found good Mexican (actually my only attempt was in Sapporo and they put the fajita meat over potats). My Japanese gf LOVES the Mexican food I make and I believe it has never come around in Japan because it is not a "sophisticated" taste like Italian or French. No white tablecloths at a taco stand, they wouldn't go with the bright orange and yellow sign! Anyway, you would atleast think a fish taco would be manageable and a freakin' margarita. . . ola!!
8:54 AM
I just had a million dollar idea (by current rates, that's 104,334,498.68 yen): Tako Tacos! Fish tacos are a trendy food in America, why not octopus tacos in Japan! Work on that as a side project and don't forget to cut the idea man in on a little of the action.
12:54 AM
That might be good. I also think that you could make "hamberg steak" that was 50% octopus, since the meat is tasteless yet very rubbery and chewy. Mix it with pork and I'll bet you'd have a good diet food.
1:15 AM
what would they say if they wanted more then one taco tho.
4:26 AM
SMOGAL
4:27 AM
They would say Tacos ni-ko or Tacos futatsu. Niko is the number 2 with the counter for individual small items. Futatsu is a general number '2' .
12:03 AM
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