More Fun With Korean Food

Several weeks ago, I described the fun I had starting to explore Korean cuisine at Korea House, a charming little place that has quietly been serving Boulder for over 20 years. That time, I tried two Korean specialties at once: galbi and bulgogi. When arranging lunch with a friend last week, I mentioned the place and she jumped on it, also being a Korean food newbie. This time, I got to try the classic Korean dish bibimbap, a rice dish with veggies, optional meat, and egg. The very cool thing is that at Korea House you can get it done with the hot stone method, where the dish is served in a hot stone bowl with a raw egg cracked into it. The idea is to swirl the ingredients around in the bowl upon arrival, and the hot stone cooks the egg into them beautifully. The stone also makes the rice on the very bottom tantalizingly crispy, possibly like the rice crust that's supposed to form at the bottom of a good paella. As we were majorly enjoying our lunch, the Korean chef came out to see how things were, and we were thrilled to be able to engage in a discussion of the food while working through something of a language barrier. Throughout the lunch, we drank pearl barley tea, a dairy- and caffeine-free beverage that is a spin on the hot barley tea I'd had on my prior trip. Although I rarely eat sweets, we were so enthused about the food, we split an order of mochi ice cream (ours was mango, and the ice cream balls are rolled in a rice paste and drizzled with chocolate) for dessert. I'm ready to go back to learn (and eat!) more.