Loco moco

loco moco plate lunch, with fried saimin and macaroni salad.

Hamburger loco moco at Aqua Cafe, Honolulu

The Loco Moco is a dish unique to Hawaiian cuisine. There are many variations, but the essential loco moco consists of white rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. Variations may include bacon, ham, Spam, kalua pork, Portuguese sausage, teriyaki beef, teriyaki chicken, mahi-mahi, shrimp, oyster and other meats.

James Kelly writes that the dish was created in 1949 by the Inouye family, who owned the Lincoln Gril in Hilo, Hawaii in 1949. In keeping with the standards of Japanese Cuisine, they used rice as a staple starch and finished it off with the hamburger and gravy to create a dish that did not require the preparation time of bento. The egg was added shortly thereafter. The name derives from the nickname of one of the teenagers who frequented the restaurant ('Loco') combined with a rhyming ('moco'), which has no meaning. It is a widespread and popular dish in Hawaii and a favourite of local fast food restaurants.

Loco Moco is also the name of an American restaurant chain featuring Hawaiian rice bowl dishes.

References

• Gimla Shortridge, Barbara; Shortridge, James R. (1998), The Taste of American Place: A Reader on Regional and Ethnic Foods, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0847685071. (A reprint of Kelly's original paper)
• Kelly, James (1983), "Loco Moco: A Folk Dish In The Making", Social Process in Hawai'i, 30: 59–64.