Roast Pork Loco Moco

It is said that a group of Hilo kids sparked the idea for the basis of Loco Moco - requesting a local restaurant owner to make something affordable that they could afford to eat after school.   The result was rice, hamburger patty, and gravy.   The egg was eventually added, making Loco Moco a favorite breakfast dish, although Loco Moco is loved any time of day.

This Loco Moco is influenced by Filipino cuisine, utilizing pork instead of beef.  

The earliest Polynesian settlers introduced the pig to the islands.  Not only were they a food source, but they have great significance in Hawaiian culture, as pigs are mentioned in many legends.

Kamapuaʻa, the pig-god, was highly revered.

Pigs were often used as sacrifice, and it was also kapu (forbidden) for women to eat pigs until 1819, when the kapu system was abolished.