Open face Loco Moco Rice Burger

Aloha! Ever since my fascination with Buzz Feed’s original Loco Moco Rice Burger recipe (partial below), I wanted to challenge myself to making some. Well, just as I suspected, it was not as easy as I anticipated, but nevertheless, here we go…

To further explain, I believe what made it seem difficult was the fact that the left over rice I used was from a few days ago. Despite my adding a little bit of water to the rice, heating it up for a minute in the microwave; and upon making the patties (or initially trying to) I went as far as drizzling my hands with some olive oil to help keep the rice patty intact–~~it worked somewhat,~~ but not really. So, lesson learned, and a tip when you are ready to pursue this recipe: Use left over rice that is only a few hours or no longer than a day old–it will stick together better!

Ingredients:

Leftover rice to form rice “buns”
Soy sauce
¾ lb ground beef
⅓ cup onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
⅓ cup panko
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 cup beef stock
1 Tbsp. cornstarch slurry (1 Tbsp. of cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp. of water)
2+ sunny-side-up eggs (optional)**
Chopped scallions or chives (for garnish)

Directions:

Form “burger buns” with the leftover rice. Firmly pack rice into your desired thickness. Pan fry until both sides are lightly crisped. Brush soy sauce on both sides of the rice buns and continue to fry until it gets some color. Set aside.
Form burger patties with ground beef, panko, onions, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Heat pan over medium. Fry patties to your desired doneness. Set aside.
In the same pan, add mushrooms. Cook until soft. Pour in beef stock and soy sauce. Thicken with cornstarch slurry.
Put the burger together. Start with the rice “bun,” then the beef patty, cover with gravy, top with an egg, sprinkle on some scallions.