Chive pancake
Serves 1
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 little bunch of chives (or scallions), about the diameter of a quarter, minced from the bottom up, until the point where the relatively thick stem peters into flat leaves
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 or 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Pinch black pepper
Heat the oils in the pan on medium heat. Add the chopped chives and let them sizzle briefly, spreading them evenly around the pan with a spatula. Add half the butter to the middle. When it’s melted turn the heat to high, wait 10 seconds, pour the egg right into the middle where the butter was, and then circle it out as evenly as possible to cover the pan. Don’t hold the egg bowl upside down very long, because you will want to save a little beaten egg for a step I call “pancake repair.”
Once the edges get sharp, prepare to flip the pancake. It must be completely unstuck from the pan, so shake the pan forward and back, left right left, trying to get it to slide loose. If you can’t break it free like that, use a spatula to lift the edges or any sticky spots in the middle that are keeping it from sliding. If it breaks at all during this unsticking process, repair the damage with leftover egg mix.
Once the pancake is loose, keep the pan moving underneath it, in a swirling motion. With the bottom loose and top still soupy, sprinkle the soy sauce and black pepper evenly and place the rest of the butter in the middle of the pancake top, which is about to be the bottom. Turn o the stove, step away, get balanced, and flip it.
Don’t launch the pancake into orbit. Two to 6 inches above the pan is fine, assuming you bend your knees, keeping your back straight, watching the floating pancake slowly rotate 180 degrees.
Stick the landing, and then let bleat a vigorous “Ha!” Quickly free any pieces of the edge that may be folded and tucked under. Repair any damage with leftover egg mixture.
If you don’t have the confidence to try flipping it, just use a spatula or two to fold it in half like a normal omelet, and turn o the heat.
Put the pan back on the hot burner, but don’t turn it back on. The pancake is cooked. Give it 30 seconds to rest and set up, and slide the finished pancake onto a plate. Serve with soy sauce.