The Little Hapas korrito. We coined it. We created it. Sure, there are countless other Korean-fusion burritos in the world — particularly in the US.  Most include the insanely addictive marinated and barbecued bulgogi (beef), galbigogi (pork ribs) or dak galbi (chicken). Little Hapas doesn’t do meat, but as our head hapa, I grew up with the stuff and can say I never met a barbecued anything I didn’t like — especially if it was marinated in the special Korean sauce my Auntie taught my mother to make some 50 years ago.

I’ve played with that recipe for a few decades now and finally came up with something we now call hapasauce. I wanted it to taste like Korean barbecue straight out of the bottle. It is the cornerstone of Little Hapas’ korrito. We use it in our Korean refried beans with ginger, onions, garlic and a few other taste treats, then add steamed rice (three different rices and barley), cheese, sempkin flower seeds, wazelnuts, avocado, Little Hapas cowgrrl dressing and more hapasauce . . . . But wait, I’m forgetting something. You can’t have Korean without KIMCHEE! It’s the super spicy, super stinky superfood synonymous with Korea. And we make our own! Then we chop it up and add it to fresh ripe tomatoes, green onions, pear (or apple), pepper, cilantro (coriander), lime and a few other seasonings, then cold smoke it with hickory. We call it pi-Korea-de-gallo. Mmm hmm. That’s how we roll. All fusiony like that. And it goes right in the middle of our korrito.  Then we wrap it all up in a fresh tortilla and grill that bad grrl crispy on the outside and hot and melty on the inside — just enough to keep the pi-Korea-de-gallo and avocado fresh. “I’ve been dreaming about my korrito all week.” This from one of our loyal lunchtime customers. I think this just might catch on.

little hapas is off to a great start in 2013!  We rolled up next to the park on Imberhorne Lane in East Grinstead (9-11 January), and had a great time meeting dog walkers, lunch breakers and incredibly polite and friendly students. There were loads of samples of pizzadillas, korritos, cookie sandwiches, hapacorn and our new snack, shred-itz surf mix. Oh yeah, and our lunch specials went down a treat too.

We now offer a fresh, healthy 5-a-day-crudite w/cowgrrl dressing to accompany your pizzadilla, or just as a snack. As little hapas likes to mix it up (and eating your vegetables should be fun), each bag holds a little surprise – a hand-carved radish! OK, so a radish carved into a mushroom won’t solve the world’s problems, but like our colourful little MegaVan, it might just put a smile on your face, so we’re halfway there.

Now, one little thing that may not put a smile on your face . . . some of you might have wondered why little hapas was only on Imberhorne Lane for a few minutes of our debut TGI-Korrito-Friday. Well, one greedy little trickster who went by the name of “Derek” phoned, impersonating an official and threatened to “move us on.” We obliged, but very shortly thereafter spoke with real officials who said we have every right to be there and “Officer Derek” is as invisible as his cowardly private phone number.

We don’t like bullies. But we do like making fresh, delicious, innovative food and sharing it with the friendly folks on Imberhorne Lane. So look for little hapas again this week! Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead • Thur-Fri, 17-18 Jan • 12:30-3:30. Check our MENU for LUNCH SPECIALS.