Ants Climbing a Tree (蚂蚁上树) | Recipe

ants climbing a tree?

no, auntie just needed some glasses.

Have you heard of the dish ants climbing a tree or 蚂蚁上树? While there are no ants in this delicious dish— just savory pork, glass noodles, + scallions. The story goes that long ag o,  a niece made this dish for her elderly auntie, however her auntie couldn’t see very well so she thought the bits of minced pork clinging to the noodles looked like ants. The noodles like twigs, and the scallions like leaves. While her auntie may have needed some glasses, the name stuck! 

My dad loves this dish, he says the mung bean vermicelli noodles are fancy. 

The noodles are really what make this dish so special since these glass noodles have incredible bounce. spicy bean paste or doubanjiang adds a nice level of savory spice to the dish, and its an easy meal to make, so you can try fancy mung bean noodles at home too!  

What’s in it

• 2 packs dry vermicelli / mung bean noodles

• 2-3 slices ginger, minced

• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1.5 tbsp doubanjiang (spicy bean paste)

• 3/4 lb ground pork

• pinch of sugar

• dash of white pepper

• 2-3 scallions, chopped

• 1 tbsp neutral oil

• 1/2 tbsp shao xing wine

• 2 tsp dark soy sauce

• 2 tsp light soy sauce

How to do it

pull up.

• mince aromatics; garlic + ginger.
• add vermicelli noodles to cold water for 10 mins, then drain. This will keep them bouncy + chewy as well as remove starch.
• arrange all of your sauces in small bowls to easily cook at your stove top.
• add oil to a wok/pan on medium high heat, add aromatics + pork.
• Once pork has begun to brown, add in doubanjiang and mix well. Add in chicken stock, soy sauces + shao xing wine, sugar + white pepper until evenly mixed.
• simmer on medium low + add in your glass noodles. These will absorb the sauce to become a dry noodle dish. If you like this to be more saucy, you can add less noodles + add more chicken stock.
• turn off the stove top, add scallions + enjoy!