By Danielle Ruiz, Staff Writer

Cooking food is a big step for many college students. But if you’ve already decided to treat yourself to homemade, or dorm-made meals, why not make them interesting? This week’s dorm room dish hits close to home for me. I transferred from Hawaii to Long Island and one way that I bridge the distance is by cooking dishes that are popular in my home state. Loco Moco is a popular Hawaiian dish that was created by a group of teenage guys that wanted a cheap meal. The first Loco Moco was made in Hilo, Hawaii at the Lincoln Grill in 1949. The teenage boys asked Mrs. Inouye, the owner of the grill, to fill up a bowl up with white rice and top it off with a hamburger patty and some brown gravy. The rest is history. A few years late, a sunny-side-up egg was added to complete the recipe.

Loco Moco

1 Hamburger Patty

1 Egg

1 pkg. Brown Gravy Mix

1 cup Rice

Loco Moco is easy to make. Many of the ingredients can be substituted if you’re looking for a healthier dish. For the health fanatics: try replacing the beef with turkey, and white rice with brown rice. To start off, you’ll need white rice, a hamburger patty, brown gravy mix and one egg. First, cook the rice–it’s going to take the longest. While the rice is cooking, season the hamburger patty. A little salt and pepper can go a long way, but I like to add cayenne pepper and garlic powder. After you’ve seasoned the patty, place it on a medium-hot skillet and let it cook. If it’s too hot you could burn the outside of the patty and leave the inside raw. When the rice and patty are almost done, start making the gravy according to the package instructions. In the meantime, fry the egg sunny-side up. Once everything is cooked, layer the rice, patty, egg and gravy on a plate or, in a bowl.

By the end of your meal, I hope you’ll love Loco Moco as much as I do!

Loco Moco is a delicious Hawaiian specialty that only requires four ingredients, with little to no mess! (Danielle Ruiz/The Chronicle)