1. Heat a very large frypan over medium heat and add the olive oil, onion, garlic and capsicum. Fry for about 5 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned.

2. Add the beef mince and fry for a further 8 minutes until cooked through. Add the spices and herbs, soy sauce and tomato sauce and mix well.

3. Add the chilled rice, season generously with salt and pepper to taste, and fry for about 4 minutes more, until the rice is well mixed and lightly fried. You may need to add a little extra oil.

4. Serve the rice with the cheese, tomatoes and lettuce on top, and the salsa and Tabasco on the side.

*A quick history lesson: Tacos and fried rice might seem as separated from each other as any two dishes on earth might be, but that's not entirely true.

Taco rice was created outside a US military base in Okinawa when a surplus of taco seasoning meant that Tex-Mex taco toppings were applied to rice after the hard shells broke during transit.

But Okinawan food is historically more closely connected to China than even to Japan, with strong trade and cultural ties since the Middle Ages.

From tacos, to taco rice, to taco fried rice. It's not as weird as it sounds.

Find more of Adam Liaw's recipes in the Good Food New Classics cookbook.

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