Fake Scallion Pancake

I've never been too confident as a baker because I view it as an exact science with very little room for non-expert improvisations. It is strange that I should feel intimidated, because I AM a scientist, but I think that is the whole problem. Perfectionism takes over and soon a simple cake recipe turns into a sensitive assay requiring painstaking measurements and a thorough literature review of similar cake recipes.

Cooking on the other hand, is where I give my natural slapdash tendencies free rein. And nowhere is this more apparent than this product of my recent cravings for a midnight scallion pancake. A few days ago, Ferret sparked the desire for such a pancake by offering me two freshly fried wedges. I would have been satiated except the sauce wasn't quite right - no hot chili garlic with soy sauce. So two nights ago, I was happily knitting my latest sweater (I can say latest now because I've finished my first sweater) when I suddenly realized I was starving. Hunger pangs never sneak up on me; I'm either full or I've been starving my entire life. So I threw together this above pancake more or less blindly:

Take a couple of limp scallions and slice thinly. In a soup bowl, throw some flour with some water, mixing until you get some kind of batter. Mix in a egg for good measure. Toss in scallions and stir. In favorite cast-iron pan, heat up some oil and pour in half of batter. Cross fingers. Flip and cook some more, occasionally peeking underneath to check for brownness. Hastily scoop "pancake" into that blue plate you found in a freshman dorm that year your friend was the RA. Drizzle soy sauce and add a generous dollop of chili garlic sauce. Eat like a caveman.

Technically, it is a pancake with scallions. It doesn't taste like any scallion pancake I've ever had in my life but even still, it was pretty damn good. Especially for 1am.