One-Pot Meals at Jane Café

Until dining at Jane in Mineola, I still held on to the image of Korean food as mostly grilled meat and very spicy food. I happily was proved wrong by a recent meal at where we ate two wonderful one-pot meals, with not a hibachi or kimchi in sight.

The Dish: Bibim Bap and Hwen and Hwe Dup Bap

What’s Inside:

Bibim Bap

A heated stone pot is brought to the table filled with vegetables, beef, a special hot bean paste sauce and white rice and topped with a poached egg and sprinkled with sesame seeds. When all is mixed together at the table the egg blends in with the other ingredients and cooks further.

Hwe Dup Bap

This is a cold dish – an assortment of thin sliced raw fish, salad greens, vegetables and special hot bean paste sauce over white rice with a touch of sesame oil.

How’s It Taste:

Each was a meal unto itself. We alternated between both dishes, unable to decide which we liked better. The hwe dup bap was very refreshing and the bibim bap was filling, a complete and nourishing meal. A special treat was the crust of crispy rice at the bottom of the bibim bap. Before the cooked rice is placed in the bowl, the bottom of the ultra hot bowl is coated with sesame oil, thus sizzling the layer of rice golden brown.

Do not fear the hot sauce. Owner Bruce Shin takes good care of his customers and the hotness of the dishes correspond with the diner’s requests.

Sides: The meal started with a few small dishes of appetizers: fish cake (that looked like noodles), mildly spiced radish and cooked greens. The miso soup had a depth you usually don’t find, because Koreans use garlic and ginger Shin said. There is Korean beer and Shin swears by his Korean water filter system.