The Art of Eating In - Cathy Erway [141]
It was simple. For my first straight week of not eating out in September, I’d do the reverse of what I’d been doing the past two years: I would eat out for every single meal, every snack, every day. It would be “opposite week.”
Fresh Corn and Zucchini Scallion Pancakes
This is another East-meets-West hybrid of Korean-style scallion pancakes with fresh summer corn and zucchini. They’re dipped in a lightly sweetened soy and vinegar sauce, and once you’ve tasted them, you may never want to eat corn without soy sauce again.
(MAKES 3-4 SERVINGS)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1¼ cups carbonated water (seltzer)
½ teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper
4 large scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh corn kernels
½ cup grated zucchini
3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons rice or white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Whisk in the egg and seltzer until there are no lumps. Add the salt, pepper, and the vegetables and stir.
Heat a large pan with enough oil to fully coat the bottom over medium-high heat. Ladle a scoop of the batter on the pan at a time, working in batches (probably of two). Check underneath the pancake after a couple of minutes, and flip before the pancake batter on the top begins to cook (it should still be liquid by the time you flip—just like cooking regular pancakes). Cook another couple of minutes on the other side. Remove from pan, add more oil to coat, and repeat with the rest of the batter.
Whisk the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, and water in a small bowl. Serve as a dipping sauce.
Stir-Fried Noodles with Cabbage and Shiitake Mushrooms
This is the kind of dish I’d make repeatedly and often make ahead for lunches. I usually give it a spicy kick by adding plenty of chili garlic sauce (bright red in color, found in most Asian groceries), but this can be left out if desired.
(MAKES 3-4 SERVINGS)
½ pound dried Asian wheat noodles
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
About 2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup fresh bean sprouts (optional)
1 cup sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
About 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1-2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
Dash white pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package instructions and drain.
In a large nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Crack eggs into a bowl and scramble lightly. Once oil is hot, add eggs and scramble until cooked. Remove and set aside in a separate bowl.
Heat the other tablespoon of oil and cook the cabbage, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the bean sprouts and shiitake mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. Season mixture with a few sprinkles of the soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and a pinch of white pepper. Add the noodles and the scrambled egg to the pan and toss. Add more soy sauce and chili garlic sauce to taste. Add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan if anything is beginning to brown. Finally, add the scallions and toss once more before serving.
CHAPTER 15
The Opposite-Week Experiment
PART I
“NORMAL WEEK”
I checked the last sentence one more time and squeezed my eyes shut as I clicked PUBLISH. It was my twenty-fourth “Reason for Not Eating Out” blog post. It was September, roughly two years since I’d posted my first reason of the month for not eating out. This time, I announced not only that it was the two-year anniversary of the blog, but also my plans to bring the not-eating-out experiment to a close.
I reached for my glass of water and gulped it down. It was past one o’clock in the morning, according to the numbers at the bottom right-hand corner of my computer screen, pretty typical for the time of night I tended to hit the PUBLISH button on my blog.
I went to the bathroom and began to brush my teeth. I had to get up for work the next morning, as usual. I would sit down at my desk, open up my e-mail account, and sift through the early