Loco Moco

This happens to be my favorite Hawaiian meal when on the Islands.  Yes, I love me some Spam musubi, garlic shrimp, lau lau, malasadas, mahi mahi, poke, shave ice, etc. too, but this is a comfort food I adore.  I'm not serving the sides that often accompany it in a plate-lunch, like mac salad, coleslaw, etc.  I like this for brunch as well as dinner.

I used a wild rice blend instead of traditional white long grain.  I cooked it in low-sodium chicken stock.  The rice was simmering as I prepared the rest of the dish as it takes almost an hour to make.  I served one sunny side up egg on each patty.  We get a weekly farm delivery of eggs to my housing complex so that is a bonus.  The only difference since the pandemic is paying by e-transfer instead of cash now.  I made a mushroom and caramelized onion brown gravy.   I garnished with sliced green onions.

Beef:

• 1 lb local lean ground beef
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 1/4 onion, fine dice

Gravy:

• 1/2 lb of mushrooms, sliced and quartered (they were big)
• 3 onions, halved and sliced in half rings
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Splash of organic extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups organic low-sodium "Better than Bouillon" vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce, to taste
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 4 tablespoons of water
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

I started the gravy first.  I sauteed the onions and  mushrooms in the butter and oil until all were browned.

I added the rest of the ingredients sans slurry, checking the seasoning until right.

I whisked in the cornstarch slurry to thicken.  I covered and let this sit on very low heat until ready to serve.  I wanted to keep the burger patties simple and have the meat shine as I always hear chef's in my head saying, "it's not a meatloaf" when making burgers...I indented a thumb print in the middle of each patty so they would remain flat.  

I cooked them in a hot cast iron pan with olive oil.  I covered with a lid after seared and lowered the heat so they could cook through and hopefully remain juicy.

The eggs were last and I plated everything first, waiting for them to finish.

The beef and the gravy were the stars of this meal.  Both were spot on in flavor, and rich and deep in tasting layers.  My son said he wished he had white rice but I never even thought to ask him, and I had instant microwave white rice in the cupboard.  Oh well, I made him eat healthier.

Wow, this was a shit load of dishes!  I used 4 different pots and pans alone.  Earlier, I rolled my ankle while we were out walking laps on pavement today.  I lost it when I stepped on a pine cone!  Next thing, I had bleeding knees, road rash palms in both hands and a huge swelled ankle.  Not fun, not pretty.  Amazon Prime let me get tensor bandages for tomorrows delivery.  Makes me sad as our walks are one of the bright spots in these pandemic days and I'll be out of commission for a while now.