Loco Moco Recipe — How to Make Hawaii's Classic Comfort Plate at Home

Where it comes from

Loco moco was invented in 1949 at the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, on the Big Island. A group of teenage athletes from the Lincoln Wreckers sports club wanted something cheaper than a sandwich and more filling than a bowl of saimin. The owners, Richard and Nancy Inouye, built a plate around what was already on hand at a small diner: rice, a hamburger patty, and brown gravy. The fried egg was added shortly after. The name came from one of the kids whose nickname was "Crazy" — loco in Spanish, picked up into pidgin — and "moco" got tacked on because it rhymed. (Background pulled from Eater.) The Lincoln Grill itself is long gone, but the dish it invented now anchors plate-lunch menus across the islands.

Every cook tweaks the proportions. Some pile on Portuguese sausage or kalua pork instead of a patty. The four-part stack of rice, meat, egg, and gravy is the constant.

Where to try the real thing in Hawaii

• Cafe 100, Hilo — open since 1946 and the closest thing to the dish's spiritual home. The menu lists more than 30 loco moco variations, but order the original first. cafe100.com
• Rainbow Drive-In, Honolulu — a Kapahulu plate-lunch counter open since 1961. The loco moco is one of the standards locals order without looking at the board.
• Tin Roof, Kahului (Maui) — chef Sheldon Simeon's spin on the classic. Worth the stop on the way back from the airport.
• Hamura Saimin, Lihuʻe (Kauaʻi) — known for saimin, but the loco moco off the same grill has its own following.

If you only have time for one, our Big Island loco moco roundup walks through the whole list. Hilo is still the heart of it.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the patties

• 1 lb ground beef (80/20 chuck)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil for the pan

For the gravy

• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup finely diced sweet onion (Maui or Vidalia)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Black pepper to taste

To finish

• 4 cups hot cooked white rice (short or medium grain — Calrose works)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced

Steps

1. Form the patties. Divide the beef into four equal portions and shape into loose ¾-inch-thick patties, slightly wider than you want them to finish, because they shrink. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the patties. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Sear the patties about 3 minutes per side for medium. Move them to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
3. Build the gravy in the same pan. Lower the heat to medium. Add the butter and onion to the brown bits left from the beef. Cook until the onion softens, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly for one full minute. You want the raw flour taste cooked off.
4. Whisk in the broth slowly. Pour the beef broth in a steady stream, whisking the whole time so the flour doesn't lump. Add the shoyu and Worcestershire. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust pepper.
5. Fry the eggs. In a separate non-stick pan, fry the eggs in a little butter, sunny-side up or over-easy. The yolk should stay loose. It becomes part of the gravy when you cut into it.
6. Plate the loco moco. For each serving: a generous scoop of hot rice on a plate, a patty on top of the rice, an egg on top of the patty, then ladle the gravy over the whole thing so it pools around the rice. Scatter green onion on top.
7. Eat immediately. The whole point is the yolk breaking into the gravy, and the gravy soaking the rice. It does not wait.

Notes from making this at home

Use medium-grain rice if you can find it. It holds the gravy better than long-grain. Calrose is what most island households cook. If you keep furikake in the pantry, a small shake on the rice before the patty goes on is a nice touch and a real island move.

For a lighter version, swap the beef patty for grilled mahi. For a richer, saltier version, swap in thick-sliced Portuguese sausage or kalua pork. Both are common at island diners and both pair well with the same brown gravy.