The Loco Moco

Welcome to another wild ride for this funky little blog. What you see above is...comfort. Comfort in a bowl. It's got rice, gravy, hamburger, and a fried egg. Everything about that basically spells FOOD COMA. Before I get all wordy, let me just break it down like this: It's called a Loco Moco, and you are going to have to be crazy to not want to try this by the time you are done with this post.

To make a long story short, I lived on the island of Maui for a short time, and this was the first Hawaiian dish I had. So yes, it does hold a special place in my heart. But, what really took me back with this dish was the sheer size of it.

What I made above is like a miniature version of a loco moco. When you go to a Hawaiian restaurant that serves it, you will normally get two big scoops of rice, two hamburger patties, an ass-load of gravy, two runny eggs, and a side of macaroni salad. I'm telling you, it's not for the faint of heart. It is some good, rib-stickin' food though. The first time I had it, I wasn't sure I could finish it. I did, but I also get a serious case of The Itis.

As far as cooking goes, I love this dish because there is a lot of wiggle room. There are so many things you can do with this dish to really kick things up. At the same time, it's the simplicity of it that makes it special. You don't have to get fancy with this to make it good.

For me, the part of this dish I try and make special is the sauce, aka gravy.

Sauces are a great thing. They are the role players in every dish, and can play any role you want it to. A sauce can be that supporting character and lend a hand to the star of the show. A sauce can also tie other items of food together. And in some cases, a good sauce can outright steal the show. In the case of this dish, I really want the sauce to stand out and not just be food lube.

First, I chopped up some onion and shiitake mushrooms.

I sauteed them for a little bit before I added water and a beef bouillon cube. Sorry, no exact recipe here. I was wingin' it this time around.

While this was going, I got a roux going. Butter and flour. That's it. I didn't put too much color on it. When the roux was ready, I added the onion and mushroom mix to it, plus any extra water to make sure it wasn't too thick.

With the sauce simmering away, it was time for the meatballs. Oh yeah, I decided to go with meatballs instead of full hamburger patties. I probably should have mentioned that earlier. Well, fuck it, we're here now.

I had the ground beef marinating with some of this:

I found this at the local Asian grocery store. There were 20 other bottles from 20 different companies that all said "Char Siu Sauce". I figured this one can't be any worse than all the others. I know it's for pork, but it can't make that big of a deal, right?

So, after a few hours in the fridge, it was time to get down to business.

I drizzled a little EVOO on the pan and on top of the meat balls. A little salt and pepper and into the oven it went at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I forgot how long it took. I'd say check it at 8 minutes and go from there. Here is what the finished product looked like:

At some point I made some rice. Again, sorry, I actually made this last month and am just now getting to it. I really should take notes on this stuff.

Right before you plate up, you cook an egg sunny side up and slap that son of a bitch right on top! BAM!

Let's get another look at this beauty.

To be honest, I liked how this all came together. The meat balls tasted good. Not the best I've ever made, but they were juicy and had a flavor I couldn't put my finger on. I guess that's what happens when you use a mystery marinade.

The sauce was pretty much just how I wanted it to be. I also forgot to mention that I added a couple tablespoons of sherry to the sauce at the end. It really brought out every flavor of the sauce to a higher level.

Of course, you can't forget about the egg. Egg yolks rock. Plain and simple.

So, are you drooling yet? I'm gonna bet you are. That just means I've done my job.

If you want to go out and try this at a restaurant first, I suggest finding your nearest L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. That's where I go for my Hawaiian food fix.

That's it for this one. Hope you enjoyed it.

In other news, I just started a Facebook page for the blog. So, when you are done here, drop on by and talk some foodie talk.

Food And Such Things

I'm out.

J. Miller