What is Loco Moco?
Born out of the plate-lunch culture that is a pillar of modern Hawaiian cuisine, Loco Moco is a dish that could only have been invented in the melting pot that is Hawaii. With a name that sounds more like a Mexican fast food joint or a rap artist, you'd hardly expect Loco Moco to be a dish that hails from a chain of volcanic islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
A mountain of rice topped with a hamburger patty and fried egg, all floating in a sea of brown gravy, Loco Moco is an eclectic mix of Asian and American comfort foods that symbolizes the Aloha State in more than one respect. As tasty as it sounds, once Loco Moco leaves its island home, much of the character of this dish can be lost in translation. Overcooked, under-seasoned pucks of hamburger and gravy that usually tastes like it came out of a package leave mainland diners puzzled as to the popularity of this dish back home.
I took my first stab at improving Loco Moco back in 2013, and I've been refining it since then. My Hawaiian Loco Moco recipe has come along to a point where I can comfortably say it's as good a version as any you'll find off the Islands.
Ingredients for Loco Moco
Loco Moco is simple comfort food, so I wanted to keep the recipe relatively uncomplicated, while looking for easy places to improve the texture and taste. Since there's not much to do with a fried egg and rice, I focused most of my efforts on the hamburger patty and the gravy.
Hamburger
Most Hawaiian Loco Moco recipes will have you fry up a plain burger patty, but I like making a Japanese-style Hamburg Steak for my Loco Moco. The Hamburg Steak patty includes ingredients that ensure it cooks up juicy and tender. Making it can be a bit of work, so I've stripped it down to the bare essentials to save time and effort.
At the core, three things happen with a Japanese Hamburg Steak that can elevate Loco Moco. The first is that there is panko in it; this not only tenderizes the burger, it also acts as a sponge, helping the burger hang onto its juices instead of spilling them out all over the pan.
The second thing is adding flavorful onions. Raw onions don't taste all that great, so I like to cook them first, but to save time, I cook them in the microwave, where they get nice and tender and a little caramelized. Finally, a Japanese Hamburg Steak mix is seasoned, and in this case, I've added some oyster sauce, which adds a boatload of umami to these patties.
Gravy
Here's where I get a little loco with my Loco Moco recipe. The gravy is what ties the rice, hamburger, and egg together, and for me, it's the most important part. This isn't the traditional Hawaiian Plate Lunch way, but it makes for a more satisfying version of this Hawaiian comfort food. I like to make my gravy by building up layers of flavor, and it really doesn't take much more time than mixing up a packet.
Frying the burgers first in the skillet I'm going to make the gravy in leaves some nice brown fond, or caramelized beef juices, in the pan, which creates the perfect foundation for building your gravy. The next layer of flavor comes from browned mushrooms and onions.
Then I add even more flavor by adding a mixture of beef broth or stock, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. To save time, I thicken this with potato starch instead of a roux. The only drawback of this approach is that the gravy isn't quite as rich, since there is no butter in it. To fix this, I like to add just a hint of cream, which gives you all of the richness of a roux-thickened gravy without all of the effort.
As a bonus, using potato starch yields a very glossy gravy that doesn't seize up or get gummy when chilled, which makes this Loco Moco suitable for packing into a bento box for lunch! You can also slather it over my Chicken Meatballs for a sumptuous party appetizer.
The Rest
I love me some gravy, but what would gravy be without a mountain of carbs for it to compliment. In the case of Loco Moco, the carbs are white rice, which allows the gravy to seep down to the plate. I'm not one to count calories, but I love this dish so much, I sometimes add some chopped shirataki noodles into the short-grain rice so I can justify making it more often. Shirataki has almost no calories in it, and when chopped up and cooked with rice, it's hard to tell it's there, which makes it a great way to save half the calories of the rice. You can even find shirataki rice in some Asian grocery stores now, and it saves you the time of chopping up the noodles.
There's just something irresistibly seductive about the orange yolk of a sunny-side-up egg melding with the savory gravy and juicy hamburgers. I've included a quick stovetop method for making the fried eggs down below, but if you want to make the best sunny side up eggs, check out my tutorial.
One last tip I have is to top your Loco Moco with fried shallots or onions. They not only add an excellent crisp texture, but they also add oodles of flavor. Since I'm not going to be frying up a batch of shallots every time I make this, I like to pick them up at my local Thai grocery store, and then I keep them in a zipper bag in the freezer. You could also replace them with green onions if you can't find fried shallots.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
For Hamburger
- 60 grams onions (~ ½ onion minced)
- 225 grams ground beef
- 16 grams panko (⅓ cup)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For Gravy
- 70 grams button mushrooms (7 small mushrooms)
- 70 grams onions (~½ onion, finely diced)
- ½ tablespoon dark rum (optional)
- ¾ cup low salt beef stock
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons potato starch
- 1 tablespoon cream
For Loco Moco
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- cooked rice
- fried shallots or onions
Instructions
- Put the onions in a microwave-safe bowl, cover the bowl and microwave at 800 watts for 4 minutes. You want them to be soft and just starting to brown. Leave the onions covered and let them cool enough to handle.
- In a separate bowl, add the panko, milk, oyster sauce, and black pepper and mix to combine.
- When the onions have cooled a bit, add them to the panko mixture along with the ground beef, and knead together until it's well combined.
- Split the mixture in half and form them into 2 patties that are about a ¾-inch (2cm) thick.
- Place them on a plate or tray and make an indentation in the center to keep them from puffing up.
- Prepare the gravy mixture by stirring the beef stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and potato starch together.
- Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat until hot. Break the eggs into the pan and then turn the heat down to low. Let the eggs fry until the white is cooked through and the yolk is done to your liking. Transfer the eggs to plate and set aside.
- Add the hamburger patties to the pan you fried the eggs in and turn up the stove to medium high heat. Fry the patties until they have a brown crust on one side and are cooked about a third of the way through (about 2 ½ minutes). Flip the patties and fry until they're almost cooked through.
- Transfer the patties to a plate and then add the mushrooms and onions to the pan. Sauté until they are well browned and caramelized.
- Add the rum and deglaze the pan.
- Add the beef stock mixture and return the hamburger patties to the pan. Turn up the heat and boil the gravy until it has thickened, turning the patties over to glaze them evenly.
- Finish the gravy by adding the cream and stirring to combine evenly.
- To plate the Loco Moco, put down a mound of hot rice. Top with a beef patty, and then cover everything with gravy. Garnish your Loco Moco with fried shallots, and then place an egg on top.
Tanya Kendell says
Absolute perfection, delicious every last drop, has become a regular in our monthly meal rotation
Marc Matsumoto says
Thank you for the kind words Tanya, I'm so happy to hear you've been enjoying this!
Jessica Pena says
I make this for my parents as a fond memory of their anniversary trip to Hawaii. Ive done a pork chicken mix that works well too and I was even able to make a gluten free version of this! Thank you so much for such a fun recipe
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jessica, I'm glad to hear that you and your family have been enjoying this! Thanks for taking the time to let me know, and have a Happy New Year!
Iris says
Hi! I want to make this but I don't have mushrooms or beef stock and I'm trying to avoid going to the grocery store until two weeks from now, because of the coronavirus shelter-in-place mandates. Would you suggest any other alternatives? Thanks so much for your delicious recipes!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Iris! Without knowing what you do have, it's a little hard to make specific recommendations, but you could replace the beef stock with chicken stock, or some other kind of stock, and you could replace the mushrooms with more onions.
Eileen says
How long in advance can you form the hamburger patties (putting in the refrigerator until time to cook)?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Eileen, you can refrigerate them until the expiration date for the meat. (i.e. if your meat has expiration date of tomorrow, you could refrigerate them until then.)
Eileen says
I'm making this tonight and noticed that in the ingredient list, it says MILK but in the directions is says "add the cream" in Step 2 (add the panko, cream, oyster sauce and ..." Should I use milk or cream?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Eileen, sorry about that, it's a typo. Milk gets added to the patty, and cream gets added to the sauce (though you could use cream in the patty as well for something a little richer).
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi WK, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
WK says
Super good, Marc! I'm in DC and working from home due to the icy weather and really needed a pick me up from my favorite place in the world - Hawaii! Great recipe and really hit the spot. Excited to try your other recipes!
Timothy Donley says
This is really outstanding. Just got back from Oahu last week and needed a fix, and this came out very similar to our favorite version on the island. Thanks.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Abigail, the the oil doesn't go in the patties, it's used to fry them. You could cut back on the oil to fry, but you likely won't get a nice brown crust on them with only 1 teaspoon of oil. As for greasyness, it's probably less about the frying oil and more about the hamburger meat you're using. What % fat is it? Most restaurants are using really cheap meat (i.e. high fat content), which is why it's so greasy in restaurants. Have you tried to make this or are you basing your opinion off of restaurant experiences? As for the coconut oil, it would work fine.
Abigail says
I love loco moco but I feel like everywhere they are served, it's always extremely greasy. So I was wondering what if you cut the oil to just one teaspoon for every 2 servings? Also, I would love to switch vegetable oil to coconut oil. Everything that I have made so with coconut oil so far has been delicious, so I wonder how it's going to taste like to make loco moco with coconut.
Sandra says
This was absolutely the best loco moco ever! And I'm so glad to make myself bc I don't want the greasy nasty kind you buy at plate lunch places. Who knows how much fat and grease in that!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Firdause Salim, you can just leave it out. Its there mainly for flavor, but this will taste good without it.
Firdaus Salim says
Hi marc,
is there a non-alcoholic substitute for the bourbon or can you leave it out all together?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jorge, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it:-)
Jorge says
My wife and I just finished licking our bowls clean! We used bison for the patties, and a dark rum instead of the bourbon, since that was all we had on hand, but kept the rest true to your recipe. Holy hell, was it good. This is definitely going on the monthly rotation! Thanks!
Amy says
Liliha is the best!! I go to Hawaii twice a year and I ALWAYS have to stop by and get their loco moco. The only place I can say has a better loco moco is Tip Top in Lihue, their gravy is KILLER.
gentlerain says
Just made this tonight and it reminded me of the dish I had on Camp Pendleton Base when I visited my son. I cant remember the name of the place but it was pretty much the same dish. Absolutely loved it!!! Thank you for bringing back such great memories!
Marc Matsumoto says
So true! Thanks for the tips, I've added them to my list:-)
Jade says
On your next visit to Honolulu, hit up Aiea Bowl for their loco moco. A bit out of town, but in my opinion that's the best one. They have a good patty and a good gravy. In my opinion, a so-so patty can be saved by an awesome gravy, but even an awesome patty can be ruined by an bad gravy. The Pineapple Room in Macy's at Ala Moana is good, too, but a little more pricey than I like.
Ivy says
Amazing! I love loco moco. I will have to try this recipe out soon. Thanks!!
LocoMocoFan says
We recently went to Hawaii, visited The Pineapple Room and fell in love with this dish! This recipe is just as good or even better!! Awesome post! Thank you!
Douglas Kiang says
Thank you, Mark, for posting this recipe! Having grown up in the islands, I have a love for the humble loco moco... Your version takes this basic dish and kicks it up several notches. Mahalo!
samnmini says
And yours doesn't know how to spell, use punctuation or syntax. If you have a problem with the recipes here, please start your own blog.
Emily says
Yes! This is really similar to what I had (although maybe just a bit of a bulldog-type sauce in the Japanese version). I will definitely try this. Thanks!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jean, I've never seen it made with pork, but I don't see why not:-)
kathleenditommaso says
Awe, thank you Marc; I love it! Your version is why the foods of Hawaii are so kapakahi (mixed up). A multicultural cross of recipes - a creation that belongs in norecipes! Really, everything goes & it all depends on who made it their style!! Thaz my family: Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Haitian, Mexican, Native American, Korean; oh yeah & Welsh, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Finish... I'm certain I left someone out...
I'm trying your version wiki wiki & suitably so given the darn cold temps in the SF bay area right now!
ann says
Please watch your language! You may not agree with the blogger but consider the time he puts in blogging and appreciate it.
kathleenditommaso says
Awe, thank you Marc; I love it! Your version is why the foods of Hawaii are so kapakahi (mixed up). A multicultural cross of recipes - a creation that belongs in norecipes! Really, everything goes & it all depends on who made it their style!! Thaz my family: Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Haitian, Mexican, Native American, Korean; oh yeah & Welsh, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Finish... I'm certain I left someone out...
I'm trying your version wiki wiki & suitably so given the darn cold temps in the SF bay area right now!
Moodie Foodie says
I travel to all islands for work and these are my two favorite places for Loco Moco:
1) Liliha Bakery (Honolulu)- Grilled homemade hamburger patties with lots of rice and gravy
2) Ishihara Market (Waimea) - Grilled homemade hamburgers, grilled onions, with a demi-glace rather than the standard brown gravy. Lots of rice and mac salad to boot.
Mike Ho says
Thats because your ass doen't no how to cook., Start off by cooking hard boiled eggs try not to burn them.
bumbutcha says
Hi Marc - thanks for posting your version of a local favorite. I've often thought of using okara as an ingredient in hamburger patties or meatloaf. In Hawaii it can be purchased fresh, usually seasoned w/sugar.
Jean says
does this actually work with ground minced pork for the hamburg patty?