Part One | Today, it's just me, and I'll still eat well
Sometimes, eating alone doesn't mean there's really no one keeping you company.
It just means that today, for whatever reason, it's just you.
When you come home from work, set down your bag, and open the refrigerator,
there probably won't be anything particularly impressive inside.
Maybe just a few eggs, a handful of greens, a little meat, and ingredients left over from yesterday.
In the past, I might have thought:
"Forget it. I'll just grab something."
Instant noodles would be fine.
Bread would be fine.
I might even have gone hungry and skipped the meal, as if it wouldn't really matter.
But eventually, I slowly realized something.
When you're alone, that's when you should eat well even more.
Not because someone is waiting for you.
Not because someone is there to praise you—or judge whether your cooking tastes good.
But because—
the person who worked hard all day today is you.
So today, cook a real meal for yourself.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
And you don't need to prepare a whole tableful of food.
A bowl of steaming hot rice, a dish of greens, and one fried egg.
That's enough.
Today, I want to make the simplest home-style dish, one that's almost impossible to mess up.
Garlic Scrambled Eggs.
The ingredients are simple:
2 eggs
2–3 cloves garlic
1 scallion
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cooking oil
If you like, you can add a little pepper, too.
The steps are simple, too.
First, chop the garlic and slice the scallion into scallions.
Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a little salt, and beat them until well combined with chopsticks.
Heat a pan, then add the cooking oil.
Add the minced garlic first and cook slowly over low heat.
You don't need to cook it until it's browned.
As soon as you can smell the garlic's fragrance, pour in the beaten eggs.
Once the eggs have set a little, stir-fry them gently.
Don't keep stirring too hard.
Leave the eggs in pieces of different sizes, and they'll be more tender when you eat them.
Sprinkle the sliced scallions on top at the end.
If you like the taste of pepper, sprinkle on a little of that, too.
Turn off the heat.
Serve it in a bowl.
And just like that, the most ordinary Garlic Scrambled Eggs are done.
Some people might think:
"Isn't it just scrambled eggs?"
Yes.
It is just scrambled eggs.
But what I want to say is that eating alone has never been about how much you cook.
It's about whether you see yourself as someone who deserves to be cared for.
It's easy to lower your standards when you're alone.
When someone is eating with you, you're willing to spend time cooking.
When someone is coming home, you're willing to tidy up the room.
When someone is looking forward to seeing you, you're willing to dress up.
But when it's only you, everything becomes, "Whatever."
You don't have to do that.
You can turn on a lamp just for yourself.
You can cook a bowl of soup just for yourself.
You can serve the rice into a nice bowl just for yourself.
And when you eat, you can put your phone aside.
Eat slowly.
Eat well.
There's no need to rush.
Because this meal isn't just about filling your stomach.
This is time you give yourself today.
So if today, for whatever reason, it's just you,
don't be so quick to say:
"I'll just grab something."
Tell yourself:
"Today, it's just me, and I'll still eat well."
Because a meal eaten alone
is still a real meal.
And you,
yourself,
also deserve to be cared for properly.