Loco Moco: A Hawaiian Pork Recipe

Some days I am at a total loss for what to do for dinner. I realize that most people seem to be pretty good at this with their weekly meal plans and shopping lists. I have tried it before and it never seems to work out for me. Seriously, never. I will make a weekly plan and pull out meat and then all it takes is one late night or busy day and the whole schedule goes crazy. Now I just don't bother. I pull a couple of packages of meat out of the fridge and then decide the day before, or the afternoon of, what I am going to cook.

You know what I don't know what to do with? Ground pork. I have some great recipes but you can only have pork burgers and pork and pasta so often. And with two pigs a year, we get quite a bit of ground pork. Needless to say, I needed something new. Thankfully, Just One Cookbook had just what I needed: Loco Moco. I had never heard of Loco Moco but it sounded interesting and different so I figured, why not?

The ingredient list looked really long but it was all stuff I had. I even made the gravy, although I didn't add the friend egg to the kid's plates. When I fed my husband later that evening, I added the fried egg. Let me tell you: DO NOT SKIP THE FRIED EGG! It makes the whole thing that much better.

Loco Moco

1 large organic white onion (½ for patty, ½ for gravy), chopped finely

1 lb. organic ground pork

½ cup (20 g) organic unseasoned bread crumbs i.e. a piece of bread toasted and crumbled

1 organic egg

2 Tbsp. organic whole milk

1 tsp. organic Worcestershire Sauce*

½ tsp. organic nutmeg*

1 tsp. salt

organic black pepper

Organic oil for frying

Organic eggs for topping, one or two per person depending on their appetite

organic parsley for garnish

Gravy

6 organic wild, dried mushrooms

2 c. stock (I used our canned pork stock)

1 tsp. organic Worcestershire Sauce*

Salt and organic black pepper

1 Tbsp. organic corn starch*

1 Tbsp. water

1. (Gravy) Place dried mushrooms, stock and Worcestershire sauce to a small pan to simmer on low.
2. Sauté onion in a little oil until translucent.
3. Add half the onion to the gravy pan and half to a bowl to cool.

4. In the bowl, add the ground pork, bread crumbs, 1 egg milk, milk, Worcestershire sauce, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

5. Make patties out of the meat mixture.
6. Heat oil in a fry pan.
7. By now, the gravy should be looking good and the mushrooms should be soft. Mix 1 Tbsp water with the corn starch, then add to gravy, allowing to gently simmer. If it is getting too thick, turn off.
8. Fry meat patties until browned and cooked through.
9. Place meat patties on plates.
10. In the same fry pan, fry eggs. (We ate it with a runny yolk but the white was fully cooked.)
11. Top patties with gravy and place a fried egg on the side.
12. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve.

The verdict? It was pretty good with the potatoes I served. It was amazing once I added the fried egg. The flavor was something we never eat so it was a different dinner than usual. We all really enjoyed it. It would be good with potatoes, rice, noodles or whatever starch you want. I served it with mixed veggies but a salad would have been a great first course. This is a recipe I will definitely make again.

Enjoy!

* For those who are interested, I have added links to Amazon products. You can also get your seasoning and spices through Thrive Market, which is where I get mine. There is a membership cost, however I have found that their prices are worth it. I also frequent my local co-op and a couple of other local bulk stores. With the kids and the different shops spread all over, sometimes it is just easier to order them online then making lots of stops when we do go out.

Shared on The Homestead Blog Hop.