The Hawaiian Burger Meal That Isn't Served Between Buns

If your heart is saying yes to putting a visit to Hawaii on your vision board this year, but your bank account is saying no, why not bring a little slice of paradise to your own kitchen with a budget-friendly, but authentically Hawaiian dish?

The Loco Moco might not be the first thing your mind jumps to when you picture dining on a tropical beach, but it is one of the most popular dishes in the island state alongside spam musubi and the poke bowls Hawaii is known for. Originally created in 1949 to satisfy hungry local teenagers looking for something cheap and quick, the dish layers white rice, a cooked hamburger patty, brown gravy, and a fried egg — in that order — for a hearty burger meal with no bun. Legends vary, as they do for any good cultural dish, about the origin story of the dish's name, but the ingredients are pretty well locked in; still, modern interpretations sometimes add grilled onions or a side of mac and cheese for extra flavor.

When teenagers are the ones who name the dish, maybe it's no wonder that 50-plus years later the details of how the fried rice/burger mash-up came to be called "Loco Moco" have undergone a bit of a game of telephone. According to popular lore, the name of the dish came from one of the teens' sports club members called "Loco," or, at least, nicknamed "Loco," which translates to "Crazy." As for "Moco," it may have come from the Portuguese word for boy, moço, or been derived from the word 'mixture,' or a shortening of 'smothered' in reference to the dish being smothered in gravy — or, it might have just rhymed.

Whatever the background, a dish invented by teenage boys has its pros. Hawaii may be one of only two states that don't have a Chipotle, but with this dish, you can still have a filling — and affordable — protein-packed meal wherever you go.