>what you got was a bowl of plain steamed white rice, a bowl of vegetable soup, and a variety of cold pickles and sauces which you added to the rice (including a tube of really nice mild chili sauce which I've never been able to track down).

You most likely got Bibimbap, with Gochujang sauce (the chili sauce). Bibimbap is one of the Korean signature dishes, and Gochujang a staple ingredient of Korean food.

On flights to Korea with Korean Air, and other airlines, Bibimbap is pretty much guaranteed. I agree that it works very well.