Home Ec at home - Pan seared Scallops with Sesame Sauce and Cellophanenoodles

 

My son asked my husband and I the other day if we wished he had Home Economics in school.  I thought about that for a few minutes.  Home Ec for me was cooking and sewing, from what I remember way back when.  For my kids, since they go to a small school that doesn't have the fav itills for a traditional class, HomeEc begins at home.  

We have tried to teach our kids life skills everyday of their lives.  Working in the yard maintaining the plants, planting bulbs, weeding, raking, so that one day they will be able to maintain their home.  Even mowing the lawn this summer for my son has been a skill he will need.  And it is not just mowing the lawn in general, it maintaining the lawn and the mower too.  There are Home Ec/life skills out there every day that you can make teachable moments.  

So, from this blog you an tell cooking and baking with the kids is Home Ec class at home.  For our daughter, she has been doing this for a few years.  For our son, it has only been things like the ramen noodles he has made in the microwave.  He had recently asked me to show him how to make eggs or French toast which I believe he has mastered.  So the opportunity was there one Friday night when it was time to throw something together for dinner.  

My husband walked him through each step of the recipe, the measuring, finding the ingredients, mixing them up and then the sauté steps.  The end result was a flavorful scallop dish from a Food Network recipe we had in our big binder.  

Ingredients

8 ounces cellophane noodles

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds large sea scallops, about 12

Ground black pepper

1/4 cup scallions, chopped

Directions

Soak cellophane noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, until tender. Strain and set aside.
While the noodles are soaking, in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops and season the tops with black pepper. Cook 2 minutes, until golden brown. Flip with spatula and cook 2 more minutes, until second side is golden brown. Add soy sauce mixture to pan and bring to a simmer, for 2 minutes, until sauce thickens and scallops are cooked through and have an opaque color.
Serve half of the scallops over all of the cellophane noodles and top with scallions. Reserve remaining scallops for salad, if desired.