Shrimp Omelet and Farewell to My Chinese Boys :-(

Hi everyone. Now I know why I am reluctant to get a pet-you get attached and then they die…or leave as in the case of my Chinese students (not to compare them to pets). We bid farewell to our 16 year old Chinese boys this morning and we are all saddened by their departure. Sure, they flooded our bathroom causing a leak and plaster falling from the downstairs kitchen, melted an electronic adapter and destroyed a power strip, left their towels in a wet heap on the floor every day and needed to learn how to say please and thank you, but those were peripheral.

More importantly, they wolfed down my not-so-American food, were incredibly sweet and doting with my children, were enthusiastic about all things Montclair, American and about our family, wrote us a beautiful, tear-jerking good bye note and left my kids an autographed basketball that they had bought for themselves in Montclair. I’ll miss those big lugs. See more photos of them on the Take Back the Kitchen Facebook page.

I found myself cooking a lot for them so they would feel taken care of and one of the dishes I made for them (which I thought was a bit Chinese-y) was a shrimp omelet. I wanted them to feel at home and I used the chives from my garden which felt really nice.
Here’s the recipe and see the video link of the boys below:

Shrimp Omelet:

6 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup cooked baby shrimp, patted dry or larger shrimp chopped up
1/4 cup chopped chives or scallions
1/2-1 tsp tsp sesame oil
salt to taste

In a medium sized pan over moderate heat, heat up the sesame oil. When it is hot (a drop of water sizzles), add the chives or scallions and saute for a minute or two. Add the shrimp and saute. Add the beaten eggs and let sit a minute before lifting the sides gently to let the raw egg seep to the sides. Continue lifting the sides until most of the raw egg is cooked. Fold over the omelet so it is like a burrito and cook for another minute or two until all the egg is cooked. Salt to taste.Serve with a hot sauce or any Asian condiment you like. Yum.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrdHfKhy3U]