Cooking for two

A harvest of pancakes from garden

Gardening is slow going. Drop a seed; harvest a carrot. In between there's watering, weeding, waiting. No chase scene, no explosion, no big reveal.

The jump-cut can be spliced together from a sprouted potato, zucchini seedling or cabbage transplant. Speeds things along. A little.

Still, it's less action flick than documentary: plodding.

The storyboard for my own garden rom-com calls for copious hedges, the better to background a frolic or picnic. But little boxwoods take time, and big boxwoods take money.

Then the guy at the garden center let me in on strike propagation.

Plot twist! Snip some clippings, dip them in rooting powder, plant. Turn one shrub into dozens. I stayed out past midnight, clipping, dipping, digging. I decided to hedge every bed. I envisioned a box-office hit: Gardeners With Borders.

Turns out not every plant likes to be snipped. Not every clipping likes to be dipped. But working out the details has turned my summer into a thriller.

Korean Vegetable Pancakes

1 egg white

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup shredded sweet potato

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup mung bean sprouts

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Canola oil

Tamari or soy sauce

Rice wine vinegar

Toasted sesame oil

Cooked brown rice

Korean red pepper paste or hot sauce, such as Sriracha

In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water. Sprinkle in flour; whisk to a smooth, thick batter.

In a separate large bowl, heap the sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, cabbage and sprouts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss. Let rest 10 minutes. Scoop up vegetables by the handful and squeeze, releasing liquid. Add vegetables to batter. Scrape in garlic. Mix with a fork.

Heat a small cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add a thin film of canola oil. When hot, scoop in one-quarter of the batter. Spread to a thin, 6-inch wide pancake. Cook about 6 minutes. Use the spatula to flip (pancake will still be soft). Brown other side, about 6 minutes. Repeat, browning all cakes.

In a small bowl, mix two parts soy sauce with one part rice wine vinegar and a good shake of sesame oil. Serve pancakes with dipping sauce, rice and hot sauce.

Makes 2 servings.

Recipe inspired by chef Bill Choi of Amitabul restaurant in Chicago

Food on 07/30/2014

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