May 18, 2019 22:00:00

We have actually eaten the origin of that Hawaiian specialty 'Locomoco' at our long-established restaurant 'Cafe 100' over 70 years old.

Loco Moco with hamburger and fried egg on top of rice with

gravy is world famous as a representative of Hawaii. It is said that it is provided at Cafe 100, the oldest restaurant on the island of Hawaii over 70 years old, in the same style as when Loco Moco was born. I actually went to Cafe 100 to see what the origin of Loco Moco is.

Cafe 100-Hilo, HI-Home of the Loco Moco
http://cafe100.com/

The appearance of Cafe 100 looks like this.

The counter for accepting orders is more like a drive-in style than a restaurant. Visitors came by car, and it was the impression that there were many people who took the ordered menu and took it back to take it home.

In addition, a table and a chair were prepared at the back of the order reception as an eat-in space. When I pointed the camera, the clerk wearing a pink T-shirt turned the peace sign saying 'Hey!'

After all Loco Moco has only a signboard menu, and various variations are prepared. This time, I will order a standard 'LOCO MOCO' to eat the original Loco Moco.

As the customers lined up behind me, it was better to head to the counter after thinking carefully what to ask while looking at the menu table.

The order is called in about 15 minutes, and I go to the counter by myself. The left is Loco Moco ($ 4.35, approx. ¥ 480), and the right is Miso Soup ($ 2.85, approx. ¥ 310), whose name was on the morning menu.

The original style of Loco Moco looks like this. It is a simple composition that only hamburger and gravy sauce rests on the rice in a square plastic container, and only one fried egg is on the top, and there are no vegetables or flavor.

The following is a side-by-side view of the long side 143.6 mm Phone X.

I can't stand the good smell of gravy, so I try to eat eggs without breaking it. As with Japan, the combination of cooked rice and gravy sauce full of umami is perfect. And above all, the impact of the hamburger was surprising. On top of the meat's umami taste, the fragrant aroma of the grilled iron plate is intense. It's a volumey and juicy hamburger that you can't easily see at a fast food restaurant in Japan, and I realized that the main character of Loco Moco is still a hamburger.

This time, smash the fried egg yolks ...

Let's eat it with hamburger and rice. Harmonious hamburger and rice are harmonized by being mellowed by eggs. I felt that it was similar to the Japanese egg-clad rice, that the sense of eating seasoned with gravy sauce by combining simmered yolks with rice was once again realized. The amount of rice is so large that some people find it a little bit more.

Miso Soup was a simple miso soup, and the ingredients were minced egg and leek. 'Although there are a lot of Nikkei people, Hawaii is still America, so I wonder if miso soup has a low degree of reproduction?' The taste was rather thin, but it was full of warmth. However, it is quite difficult to drink it all because it is quite large.

There was also a counter for telephone orders next to Eat-in space. It seems that many people come to pick up at lunch time after ordering from home beforehand.

Also, a photo of Richard Miyagi, the founder, was displayed on the telephone order counter. Richard Miyagi was a member of

the 100th infantry battalion organized around the Japanese American Nisei soldiers during World War II, and that he started the Cafe 100 in 1946 after demobilization. The store name '100' seems to be attached from this 100th infantry battalion.

The origin of loco moco is described by Jiro Nakano, a Japanese doctor living in Hawaii, in his book, “The

Feature of Hawaii Mana Paradise ”. According to it, it is said that Loco Moco is the menu of restaurant ' Lincoln Grill ' which opened in 1949 in Hilo on the island of Hawaii .

One day, a hungry local high school student came to Lincoln Grill and said, 'I have only 35 cents in my wallet, but I want it to eat something.' Therefore, Nancy Inoue, the wife of the shop owner, put rice in a ramen bowl, put a hamburger egg and fried egg on the egg, and acted with a gravy sauce as a recipe. The menu, which was named 'Loco Moco' by local young people, quickly became a reputation for being 'cheap, easy to make and hearty' and quickly made its way into the mainland of the United States, becoming a specialty dish representative of Hawaii That's right. The picture below is Loco Moco, which was served as an in-flight meal for Hawaiian Airlines.

Lincoln Grill was closed in 1964, so Cafe 100, the oldest restaurant on the island of Hawaii, is a valuable restaurant where you can eat the original Loco Moco at the time of birth. In such a Cafe 100, goods of 'Loco Moco Yushi' were also sold. This is a sticker on the car.

This is the Loco Moco T-shirt that was created in 2011 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of its founding. In the gray one, a mysterious character modeled on Loco Moco was drawn.

Cafe 100's address is 969 Kilauea Ave, Hilo, Island of Hawaii, HI 96720-4216 and is open Monday to Friday from 6:45 to 20:30 and Saturday from 6:45 to 19:30 ... apparently ...