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ATOMThe Loco Moco is a Hawaiian breakfast dish of a hamburger patty on rice topped with fried eggs and brown gravy. There are many substitutes for the hamburger, but there is no known low calorie version. Wikipedia says the Loco Moco originated in Hilo, Hawaii in 1949 at the request of some local boys who were after some quick cheap eats. Loco, Spanish for crazy, was a nickname of one of the boys, and moco was picked to rhyme.
The dish caught on and is now a staple everywhere in Hawaii, and it is making inroads in the Mainland US. It’s being helped along by Hawaiian fast food chains like the L&L Hawaiian Barbeque that now has many restaurants on the Mainland, though still mostly in the West.
The L&L version comes in a styrofoam box with a side of macaroni salad. The macaroni salad makes it an acceptable Hawaiian plate lunch. A plate lunch always has both rice and macaroni salad, to ward off starch deficiency.
My favorite variation of the loco moco was served up at an unusual branch restaurant of celebrity chef Sam Choy. The restaurant was in an out-of-the-way industrial park in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. They served inexpensive Hawaiian food during the day and dressed the restaurant up for fancy food at night. The restaurant closed a few years ago, which ended the opportunity to get chicken and mushroom Loco Moco, also known as the SOS Loco Moco. It was really a treat. In general, a great Loco Moco needs great gravy, and Chef Choy had that figured out.
I believe I mentioned that there aren’t any low calorie Loco Mocos. High on the list of not-low-calorie versions is the Chicken Katsu Loco Moco at the Big Island Grill near downtown Kona. Katsu is Japanese for cutlet, so we are talking about a bread fried cutlet served with rice, eggs, and gravy. I’m not sure that making it with chicken turns it into health food, but maybe.
Finally, among the more elegant versions was served up at the Bubba Gump’s on the waterfront in Kona. It is garnished with an orange slice. That, plus toast instead of macaroni salad, makes it elegant.
A Loco Moco is not difficult to make, if you can provide a gravy that does it justice.
The phrase used in the associated article to describe the loco moto — “hamburger patty on rice topped with fried eggs and brown gravy” — might turn off readers unfamiliar with the loco moco phenomenon. But this creation is not to be confused with comic- strip, “Bad Boy” fast food breakfasts.
Actually, the loco moto is not so much a breakfast as it is a morning banquet. Its volume and the variety in flavors it offers make it so. I cannot fathom what makes such an uninspired collection of ingredients taste so wonderful. The gravy must be the secret. Most industrial parks do not offer such excellent food.
This dish should be on gourmet lists everywhere. Incidentally, allow time for this meal. Banquets should not be rushed.
— Ron Hendricks · Jun 10, 03:02 PM · #