Loco Moco (Hawaiʻi Local Hamburger-Rice Plate from Hilo)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-cup or larger rice cooker
• •10 to 12-inch cast-iron skillet or flat-top griddle
• •2-quart saucepan or skillet for gravy
• •Wide spatula for patties and eggs

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice

   Rinse the rice until the water runs less cloudy, then cook it in the rice cooker with water to the proper line. Let it rest ten minutes after the cooker clicks over, then fluff it. Loco moco needs rice that can take gravy without turning to paste, soft but still standing up.

2. 2

   Make mac salad

   Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender, a little past firm, because Local mac salad shouldn't fight your teeth. Drain, toss while warm with the vinegar, and let it cool. Fold in mayonnaise, milk, grated carrot, grated onion, sugar, salt, and pepper until creamy. Chill it while you cook the beef.

   If the macaroni drinks up the dressing, add another spoon of mayonnaise and a splash of milk. No panic. The salad should be creamy, not stiff.
3. 3

   Shape the patties

   Divide the beef into four loose patties, about five ounces each, and press a shallow dent in the center of each one. Season both sides with salt and pepper right before they hit the pan. Don't work the meat hard or the patty turns tight, and this plate already had enough hard work behind it.

4. 4

   Brown the beef

   Heat a 10 to 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add a little oil only if the pan needs it, then sear the patties until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, or 160F if you're measuring. Move the patties to a plate and keep every dark bit in the pan. That's your gravy talking.

5. 5

   Build the gravy

   Lower the heat to medium. Add the butter and sliced onion to the same pan and cook until the onion softens and the browned bits loosen. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until it smells nutty, about 1 minute. Whisk in the beef stock a little at a time, scraping the pan clean, then add shoyu and Worcestershire. Simmer until the gravy turns glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Taste for salt and pepper.

6. 6

   Fry the eggs

   In a clean skillet, fry the eggs sunny-side up or over easy, whichever your table likes. The whites should be set and the yolks should still run into the rice. If you're feeding kids, elders, or anybody who needs a firm egg, cook the yolk through and no make a speech about it.

7. 7

   Plate Hilo style

   Put two scoops of rice on each plate. Lay one hamburger patty over the rice, spoon over the brown gravy, set a fried egg on top, then spoon a little more gravy so it shines over the egg and down the sides. Add one scoop of mac salad beside it, and scatter green onion only if you like. Plastic fork, hungry people, that's the whole thing.

Chef Tips

• •Use 80/20 beef if you can. Lean beef makes a dry patty and gives you less pan drippings, and the drippings are where the gravy gets its backbone.
• •Canned gravy will get you fed on a weeknight. Warm it in the patty pan with a splash of shoyu and the beef drippings, and it'll taste more like the counter plate it came from. Keeper, not gatekeeper.
• •The rice matters. Medium-grain white rice from the cooker is the local spine here, because it catches gravy and yolk without disappearing.
• •This is Hawaiʻi Local, not old ceremonial Hawaiian food. That doesn't make it lesser. The deep foods and the plate lunch sit on the same family table, and both kept people fed.
• •Make the egg your table's way. Runny yolk is the diner move, but a firm egg is right when safety or preference asks for it.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the mac salad up to 1 day ahead. It gets better after a chill; loosen it with a spoon of milk before serving if it tightens.
• •Slice the gravy onion and rinse the rice earlier in the day, then cook the rice close to mealtime.
• •Shape the patties up to 8 hours ahead and keep them covered in the fridge, but salt them right before cooking so they stay tender.
• •Gravy can be made a few hours ahead after the patties are cooked. Reheat it gently and thin with a splash of stock or water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 750g)