Koco Bell Korean Street Food came onto my radar one day when I was looking for an easy way to have lunch. I knew all the great Yelp reviews couldn’t be true, no place could be that good. The other comments seemed to be that no place could be that small. I decided to try it; and wow was I surprised! The little red shack, scarcely bigger than my kitchen, contained a smiling Steve and his wife Marisela Kang when I came up. The sign emphasized Korean Street Food, with Steve telling me that street stands and foods were an important part of life in South Korea. His object with Koco Bell Korean Street Food was to bring this slice of Korean life to Boise.
Being familiar with Korean food at places like (the late, great) Mr. Wok, I decided to order their BBQ Box. That day, they had a special, which I tried, with the BBQ Box, a cup of Ginger Tea and a Sweet Korean Pancake. I watched Steve make the food fresh, putting it into the to-go container like it was a fancy Asian-style sit-down place. I sat down on the plastic table outside and opened the container. Using a set of chopsticks, I tried the various items. The fresh flavors were amazing, to say the least. The pork was perfectly cooked and glazed with a delicious sauce. He came out of the shack to refill my delicious tea, and told me that he brews it fresh all day. He lifted the lid to show the pieces of ginger, cinnamon and jujube in the basket on top. The tea also had a nice sweetness to it from honey that worked really well.
After I finished my lunch, he brought me out a fresh Hotteok, the Sweet Stuffed Pancake. This is a new item I had never seen any place. It is very popular as a street snack, the pancake filled inside with walnuts, powdered cinnamon and a sweet sugar syrup. This is now one of my favorite desserts, a variety of textures filling the slightly sweet, powdered sugar topped treat. Eaten with the hot ginger tea, it made the perfect end to the meal. I talked to Steve after, making plans to come back to the little red shack next week and try something different. I was told that next week was the last week for a while; and that when they reopen, they would be in a regular location in Boise. As he told me about it, I knew he was describing the recently shuttered location of Paddles Up Poke in West Boise, in the Albertson’s Shopping Center at the corner of Eagle and McMillan. I asked him to text me as soon as he knew about when opening day was.
Walking into the new location, I was simply amazed. The bright colors and nice artwork gave it a comfortable feel. The menu had been expanded, with daily specials and several new items. Marisela again greeted me and I proceeded to order the Korean BBQ Pork Belly Box, an item I had only seen before at the AYCE Korean BBQs where you cook at the table. Steve also suggested I try a Tuna Kimbap, a Korean version of a sushi roll but with several distinctive twists. Many of the dishes can be ordered spicy if desired, and I thought the heat would go well with the pork belly so I asked to get the spicy version.
The Kimbap came first, plated just like at a sushi bar. It looked wonderful and tasted delicious. It contained an egg omelet sliced thin, yellow pickled radish, carrot, crab, lettuce and tuna. The tuna was cooked, which was a surprise for me. The rice was the typical sushi short grain, nicely cooked and perfectly rolled and sliced. The flavor and texture were great, with the lettuce and daikon adding a nice crunch to the roll. They also have two other versions, one without the tuna but including julienned ham, and one with (surprise!) thin slices of cold bulgogi beef. The daikon adds not only a nice crunch, but also just a little pickled flavor that cuts the richness of the meat and seafood.
Another visit yielded a dish made by Steve that is the equal of any of the fine sushi bars in Boise. Trying to figure out what to say about it, the best way is to let the picture speak for itself.
Korean cuisine is all about integrating as many different flavors at once, incorporating not only sweet, sour and spicy, but also the elusive umami, which makes Korean food such a symphony of flavors. Korean food also tends to have many different colors, so even in a plastic to-go container it looks beautiful. This was shown next in the Pork Belly BBQ Box. The small rectangles of pork belly, rich with the fatty goodness that defines this treat, were on a nice bed of rice which slowly soaked up the flavorful sauce. The pickled yellow radish and the kimchee on the side cut the richness of the pork just enough to enable me to eat the whole thing. Bean sprouts, carrots, onion and other crunchy delights also filled the container with a panoply of flavors and textures.
My next two visits involved friends who joined me for a meal. Dale Wilson, or as he’s otherwise known, Blind Harpdog Wilson, guitarist/singer/harmonica player of the Jake Leg Band Featuring Brook Nicole, joined me to try Koco Bell for the first time. He really enjoyed it and the different dishes we had. He had the Galbi BBQ Box with the the famous Korean Beef Short Ribs. Unlike the ones we are used to here, Korean cooks get them sliced thin so every bite can contain the flavors of the sauce. This was another hit with us. Rich beefy flavor, with the slightly sweet sauce topped with slightly toasted sesame seeds. Oh, was that delicious too!
A few weeks later, singer and bass player extraordinaire for the Gary Tackett and Full Moon Rude band, another of my favorites, joined me for an impromptu lunch also. That day, I had also been invited by Steve to try a few new items he was thinking of adding to the menu. It was a perfect time for that, since having a second opinion is great for seeing what other people’s reaction to the foods are. The first item he brought was actually one of my favorites that I have enjoyed sever other places. Again, sharing some similarities to other country’s cuisines that Korea has assimilated into their own during their long history, the Mandu have a heritage and connection to the Japanese Gyoza and the Chinese Potstickers. Served with a dipping sauce, these started off the meal in a delicious way.
I was also presented with another street favorite from Korea, some steaming Tofu Soup. Korea is pretty high in latitude; and gets quite cold at times, even with occasional snow in some regions. Steve brought me the Kimchee Tofu Soup, one of the many varieties that the basic soup comes in. Seafood poultry, chicken, meats, vegetables, firm or soft tofu or other items are often added to the soup to present an almost infinite variety made from the basic recipe. As I glanced out on a cold, wet Boise day, it was a perfect way to warm up.The soup was flavorsome, and spicy but not overpowering. The extremely soft tofu that gives this soup it’s basic name adds texture, melting away into the soup to give a silky feeling to the broth.
A third item was also another dish that I had never had before, at least in its Korean version. The Pa Jeon is again a twist on something different, akin to the Chinese Scallion Pancake. This came on a large platter, looking like a pizza and with the dipping sauce in the middle. I had actually watched Steve cook it, working on a large round flattish heating surface, similar to the one used in French crepe restaurants to make the delicious round pancakes known all over as crepes. This, with a soy-based dipping sauce in a container in the middle, made for a really nice appetizer, flavorful but not spicy. Fresh thin-sliced pieces of green onion added a nice fresh tang to the dish.
I had ordered a BBQ Box for both of us, with Kevin also trying the Beef Galbi Short Ribs. I could not resist getting the Pork Belly again; and it would give me a good chance to see the consistency of the dishes, something that restaurants moving into a new or larger (or both) location tend to suffer for a while. The only difference I noticed was that some of the items were now presented on plates often used for sushi items. While the original location was only with one small table outside for dining, the new location adds several comfortable table, many with a nice upholstered seat covering the width of the back wall.
One item that Koco Bell Korean Street Food has that’s a very timely item is Dalgona Candy. This is essentially a crunchy caramel treat, extremely popular in Korea originally in the 1970’s and ’80’s. Key to the candy is a small bit of baking soda added to the hot caramel. This creates an airy and delicate candy. Currently, it now an integral part of the new Netflix series Squid Game. I was able to see Steve making the hot candy for me on that same hot flattop that is used for both the Scallion and Sweet Stuffed Pancakes. Like most things there, the Dalgona Candy is made to order, fresh, sweet and hot. In the Netflix show, the trick is to remove the cooled Dalgona candy from a mold without breaking it during the Challenge. This is harder than it sounds, since the molds have high sides and all you have is a wooden skewer to accomplish it. In November, Koco Bell had plenty of people come in just to try to win prizes as Koco Bell Korean Street Food did their own version of the Squid Game, awarding prizes to many who were successful in the Challenge.
The word has spread quickly about the new, comfortable location for Koco Bell Korean Street Food. Steve and Marisela have hired several new employees, manning the front counter and allowing the husband and wife team to concentrate on their cooking. For all the old fans of the original location, the new location allows for dining in all kinds of weather as well as a place to sit and sip the hot Ginger Tea while they are waiting for their to-go orders. And for the new customers since the Grand Opening of the Eagle/McMillan location, they have the benefit of not only a nice place to sit, but an expanded menu with several intriguing items on it. This is also a great place to come with some foodie friends, so items like the appetizers can be easily shared by several diners. There is even a kid’s menu with smaller size portions and items that are sure to please your youngsters. They also do plenty of to go business, which is perfect seeing that most of these dishes originally were planned as something to take home or even eat while walking on the street in one of South Korean’s many cities.
Several of the items such as the Mandu, the Kimchee Tofu Soup and Scallion Pancakes are not on the menu yet, but I was able to sample so Steve and Marisela could see what kind of reaction there was to the possible new dishes, as a way to decide whether to put them on the menu in the future. Of course, if you like the way some of the possible new dishes sound, make sure to tell Steve and Marisela when you’re in. They just might be able to make some for you anyways, and if not, they’ll know there is a demand for the new items.
If you’ve wondered about those Yelp reviews like I did, I agreed—this is an amazing find! Steve and Marisela of Koco Bell Korean Street Food are bringing a wonderful concept to the Treasure Valley; and if the crowds I have seen during my visits and the positive reactions my friends had to the food, Koco Bell Korean Street Food is going to be a runaway hit in not only Boise but the Treasure Valley.
Koco Bell Korean Street Food
13601 McMillan Road, Suite 104
Boise, Id 83713
(208) 408-8224
Koco Bell Facebook Page
Koco Bell Instagram Page
Koco Bell Website
All photos by Ed Simon For The Boise Beat
