Loco Moco

If you’ve been to Hawaii you probably know what loco moco is.  But bear with me while I tell everyone else. 

Loco Moco supposedly originated at a drive-in called Café 100 in Hilo on the island of Hawaii.  In its purest form, it is white rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy.  In more deluxe renditions, the rice can be fried rice, the meat can be a sausage patty, some sliced linguisa sausage, or even a small steak. 

We fell in love with loco moco many years ago on an early visit to Hawaii.  I make it a lot when we are there (usually every other Christmas) and sometimes at home.  This week we had Chinese takeout and I ordered fried rice just so we could have loco moco this weekend.  It really is not a healthy choice, but once a year, well, it’s okay.  And on many occasions, like today, I leave out the brown gravy so it’s not quite as much of a fat bomb.  Sometimes it’s just really good Japanese fried rice with one sautéed egg on top.

Today’s loco moco was deluxe fried rice, topped with a 3-oz burger patty seasoned with green onions and onion soup mix.  I usually keep a supply of burgers in the freezer, so just used of the 6-oz patties and split it for two.  Then two eggs, sunny side up.  I do insist on making sure all of the whites are cooked, with the yolks still runny.  That takes some careful watching, but with a tsp of water and a lid on for a few minutes, they do turn out the way we like them. The runny yolk makes up for no gravy. 

So that was our brunch today.  I even had a nice glass of Argyle sparkling wine (can’t call it champagne anymore, that’s illegal!).