Loco Moco and Kimchi Rice (by G)

One of the enduring influences on what I cook is the show 'Man finds Food'. I was watching it the other day and saw one restaurant had a secret menu item that paired Hawaiian loco moco with kimchi rice. I decided to do that.

To make the rice I just cooked some rice and let it dry a little, then stirred through some kimchi and hot bean paste as it fried.

I don't exactly know what loco moco is - the internet was a bit unhelpful because there are about 1 million interpretations. I decided to do the simplest thing I could. Fried pre-formed hamburger patties from the supermarket melted over with some Swiss cheese and served with a couple of fried eggs. In my mind Korean food is an excellent excuse to have fried eggs toppers with dinner.

The whole combination was fine - with a little effort it probably could have been much better. The best thing was shopping for the ingredients at a Korean store in the city. The shop is filled with weird and wonderful Korean delicacies and they have K-pop blaring at maximum volume - it's almost like being in Seoul. There were a whole selection of kimchis - I went with a convenient single-serve sachet. I also bought some crispy fried wasabi flavoured seaweed on an impulse - a few shards of which I served with my dinner.