Ants In Trees Recipes

ANTS CLIMBING A TREE (MA YI SHANG SHU)

Steps:

• Soak the dry noodles in cold water for 10 minutes. Rinse, drain and set aside. In a wok over medium heat, add the oil and minced ginger. Cook the ginger for about a minute, and add the spicy bean sauce. Let that cook for another minute, and then add the ground pork (or chicken). Stir-fry until the meat is cooked through.
• Add the chicken stock, sugar, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce. Bring everything to boil. Once boiling, add the glass noodles and scallions. Quickly stir everything together for 1-2 minutes. Serve alone, or with steamed rice!
• Seriously. How easy was that?

ANTS ON A TREE

Steps:

• Heat a pan with some oil over medium heat. Add the pork and garlic to the pan and cook until the flavor permeates and the pork browns. Then turn the heat to medium-high, add the cabbage and carrots, and stir-fry until the vegetables soften. Next, add the noodles, soy sauce, onions, sugar, ginger and pepper, and continue to stir-fry until all of the ingredients are mixed and the entire dish is coated with soy sauce. You will know when it is done is when the whole dish is steaming hot, light brown and the noodles are transparent with a shiny glaze.
• To assemble, use cooking tongs to hold and twist the stir-fry and transfer on to a platter.

ANTS ON A TREE

Steps:

• Marinate the pork:
• In a small bowl combine the pork gently with the vinegar, the soy sauce, and the sesame oil and let it marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• In a bowl soak the noodles in warm water to cover for 15 minutes, drain them, and cut them into 3- to 4-inch lengths.
• In a wok or large heavy skillet heat the vegetable oil over moderately high heat until it just begins to smoke and in it stir-fry 1/4 cup of the scallion, the garlic, and the gingerroot for 30 seconds. Add the pork and the chili paste and stir-fry the mixture, breaking up the lumps, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the noodles, the broth, the Scotch, the soy sauce, the vinegar, and the sugar and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the noodles have absorbed the liquid. Transfer the mixture to a platter, drizzle it with the sesame oil, and sprinkle it with the coriander and the remaining 1/4 cup scallion.

ANTS CLIMBING A TREE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, soak the vermicelli in enough warm water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain, shake off excess water, and set aside.
• Rinse the black beans to remove any grit. In a small bowl, mash the black beans with the back of a spoon for about 20 seconds (it does not need to be a smooth paste).
• In a small bowl, stir together the soy. sauce, Sichuan chile oil, and sesame oil. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix 2 Tbsp. of the Chinese rice wine with the ground pork.
• Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add the vegetable oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Add the pork and stir-fry, breaking up the pork with a spatula, until crispy and starting to brown but not yet dry, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the scallion whites, garlic, ginger, and fermented black beans and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. rice wine and use the spatula to scrape up any bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• Add the stock, the drained noodles, and the Sichuan chili oil mixture. Simmer the noodles, tossing carefully with tongs so they get evenly cooked, until the broth is half absorbed, 3 to 4 minutes. (The vermicelli noodles will still absorb a lot of liquid post-cooking.) Transfer everything to a deep serving bowl, garnish with the scallion greens, and serve.

ANTS CLIMBING TREES

Steps:

• Combine minced meat with soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. Soak the bean thread noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain.
• Heat a wok over high heat, add oil and hear until very hot. Stir fry the minced meat, mashing and separating it, until it changes colour and starts to brown.
• Push the meat to the side of the wok, add the spring onion, ginger, garlic and the chilli paste and stir fry for 5 seconds, or until fragrant. Return the meat to the centre of the pan.
• To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients. Add the sauce to the meat mixture and toss lightly. Add the noodles and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes, or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
• Sprinkle with the extra spring onion to serve.

ANTS CLIMBING A TREE (SICHUAN SPICY VERMICELLI STIR-FRY)

Steps:

• Place vermicelli in a bowl and cover with water; soak for at least 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until you can feel the heat above the pan. Put in ground pork; cook and stir until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Stir in peppercorn powder until evenly distributed. Add water and bring to a boil.
• Add drained vermicelli and mix evenly with the pork. Cook until all water has evaporated, about 5 more minutes. Taste and add more soy sauce if not salty enough for you.
• Transfer to a serving plate and top with green onions.