Loco Moco is a recognized staple of Hawaiian cuisine. Much like the Hawaiian lifestyle, it is meant to be simple comfort food with readily accessible ingredients. Traditionally, Loco Moco is composed of a generous amount of steamed white rice, a seared burger patty smothered with sweet onion gravy, and finished with a fried sunny side egg. It is relatively cheap to make, and that is one of the many reasons why people love to make this dish. In this recipe, we decided to give it our own twist; you can make it with spam, or tofu if you are vegetarian!
Loco moco is a widely popular dish indiscriminately born in Hawaii in the late 1940s. As legend interprets, some local teenagers wanted something different than the usual American sandwiches and layered Asian dishes. It is a comfort food not found in upscale restaurants but can be sought out in most fast food joints, diners, and mom & pop shops on the islands.
Modern Hawaiian cuisine was not established until the late 1940s after World War Two when Hawaii was officially annexed to the United States. After the first contact with Europeans in 1778, American cuisine arrived along with missionaries and whalers, who introduced their own foods and built large sugar cane plantations. Missionaries brought New England cuisine, while whalers introduced salted fish. Immigrants from other regions such as Korea, Portugal, Japan, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines also heavily brought their own influences.
Hawaiian fare can easily be distinguished into two categories: traditional, and contemporary. Traditional Hawaiian cuisine employed Kanakas; a Pacific Islander employed for labor purposes, who cooked kalua pig, Lau Lau, and poi, and contemporary Hawaiian cuisine is the culmination of food that comes from all of the immigrants who worked on the sugarcane plantations where they would share their meals. Loco Moco is an example of modern-day Hawaiian food because this dish employs ingredients and components from both American and Japanese cultures.
Historically, Hawaiian cuisine can be described as simple and sustainable. Hawaiians ate fish, mainly uncooked (sashimi), but also enjoyed their slow-roasted meats such as pork and chicken, amongst other flightless birds. What they did cook, they roasted in Imus, or 2-4 foot holes in the ground filled with hot stones; recognized today as the base for luau celebrations. Hawaiians of course also consumed a heavily vegetal diet composed of taro, coconuts, pineapple, sweet potatoes, yams, and bananas.
As a company, we believe it is imperative to know the cuisine you are working with, to honor the people, their lands, and their history. We are an American-Asian-based company, and we want our consumers to not only enjoy our products but educate ourselves on the rich history of all the great countries that make us who we are today. By doing so, it brings so much more meaning and appreciation to the dishes we create!
The Dish
Loco Moco is the perfect dish for a cold night, and satisfies all the taste buds! To begin, the equipment you will need:
A rice cooker or a large saucepan
2 dinner plates, 1 lined with paper towels for pressing tofu (optional)
Your Forge to Table Gyuto knife
Medium bowl
1 large saute pan for gravy
1 medium saute pan for proteins (optional)
Measuring cup
Tablespoon measures
Start by washing your rice- always wash rice to A) make it stickier and B) to remove any dirt or dust that may have been picked up on its journey from the field to your home. Transfer it into your large saucepan, and reading the directions on the package, fill your pan up with the prescribed amount of water. Bring up the temperature, and keep it at a low simmer until all the water has evaporated. A rice cooker does wonders too!
If you are using tofu, this is a good time to remove it from its package. Pat the tofu dry, and place them on the sheet pan lined with paper towels. Place the other sheet pan on top of the tofu, and you can use whatever heavy object you would like (such as a cast-iron pan) to place it on top of the sheet pan as a weight to press the moisture out of the tofu. The towels will soak up any moisture and leave you with crispier, meatier tofu for later.
Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables and protein. Get your saute pan hot, and add in 1 tablespoon of oil. Using your Gyuto, slice your onion so it can be caramelized for the gravy.
Add the onions evenly into the saute pan, stir them every so often for a balanced caramelization. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes until they are a deep brown color- this is where the umami and sweetness will come from!
As your onions are cooking, slice your mushrooms, spam (optional), and mince your garlic, then set them all aside separately. Wash your knife and cutting board off, and thinly slice your scallions for the salad. In a bowl, combine 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and top with the scallions, but wait to toss. Chill it in the fridge until serving time.
Measure your wet ingredients: broth, soy sauce, and Worcestershire (optional) into one bowl or cup, and dry ingredients: cornstarch into another.
When the onions are caramelized, remove them from the pan and set them aside. Add in 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan, get the pan hot, and sear the spam or tofu until crispy. Remove and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and sear the mushrooms until golden and crispy. It is important for texture and flavor that the mushrooms are seared properly! This will also contribute to the umami in the dish. Spoon in the garlic and stir until fragrant. Then, add in your liquids: broth, soy sauce, and Worcestershire (optional) and bring to a boil. Remove a spoonful of the boiling liquid and combine it with the cornstarch to make a slurry. Add it to the pan once more to thicken to make the gravy.
Let it simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavors marry.
Finally, using your small saute pan, fry up your eggs however you would like them. Serve over a bed of rice, your spam or tofu, mushroom gravy, and a nest of scallion salad. More directions below! Enjoy.
Loco Moco with Scallion Salad
This Hawaiian staple has a storied history and a rich combination of flavors and textures. Rice is topped with a caramelized onion gravy, seared tofu or Spam, a fried egg, and a refreshingly zippy scallion salad. Make it vegetarian with a few easy substitutions. Loco for the Moco!
Recipe by Nicole Gresko
Forge To Table
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 cups long-grain rice, cooked
14 ounces tofu, pressed or 1 can (12 ounces) of spam, sliced
Salt & Pepper, to taste
4 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
½ medium onion, sliced
8 ounces shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 cups beef broth or mushroom broth
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch (or potato starch)
4 each eggs
1 bunch scallions, sliced on a bias (about 8 scallions)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Directions:
[PREP RICE] Wash your rice to remove dirt or any debris. Transfer rinsed rice into a large saucepan or rice cooker, add water according to directions, and cook until water has evaporated. Keep warm.
[PREP TOFU] Remove tofu from its package, if using. Pat it dry, and place the block on a dinner plate lined with paper towels. Place another dinner plate on top of the tofu and place a heavy object (like a cast-iron skillet) to press the moisture out of the tofu. The towels will soak up extra moisture and leave you with crispier & meatier tofu. Slice into ½ inch cubes, season with salt & pepper (or another seasoning blend), and set aside.
[CARAMELIZE ONIONS] In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the sliced onions, stirring often, until they start to caramelize. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes until they are a deep brown color- this is where the umami and sweetness will come from!
[PREP SALAD] While the onions are caramelizing, combine sugar and rice vinegar in a medium-sized bowl. Thinly slice scallions using your Forge To Table 8” Gyuto and place on top of the dressing, but don’t toss yet. Chill it in the fridge until serving time.
[START GRAVY] When the onions are caramelized, remove them from the pan and set them aside in a small bowl. Increase heat to medium-high, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and sear the sliced mushrooms until golden and crispy, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
[FINISH GRAVY] Add beef or mushroom broth, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce (optional) and increase heat to bring to a boil. In a small bowl, add cornstarch and stir in a spoonful of the hot liquid to make a slurry. Add it back into the sauce to thicken. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 5 minutes.
[COOK PROTEIN] Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is lightly smoking, sear the sliced tofu or sliced spam until crispy, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and crack in the eggs. Fry until cooked, and season lightly with salt and pepper.
[ASSEMBLE BOWLS] Remove scallion salad from the fridge and toss with the dressing. In each bowl, add about ½ cup cooked rice, a few slices of cooked tofu or Spam, mushroom gravy, a fried egg, and a small nest of scallion salad. Enjoy!
Chef’s Notes:
ALWAYS wash your rice to make it stickier and to remove any dirt or impurities it may have picked up during transportation.
Searing your proteins is arguably the most important part- make sure the spam or tofu is dark and crispy to get that texture and satisfaction when biting into it.
Photography by: Sam Burgess
