41. 螞蟻上樹 Ants climbing up a tree

Please don't be put off by the name of this recipe from Szechuan! This is a dish of mung bean vermicelli stir fried with ground pork. The bits of meat stuck to the vermicelli represents ants climbing up a tree. The ground meat should be thoroughly broken up when cooked but I like to taste the meat so mine are clumps rather than bits. My version resembles ant colonies on the tree.

It is a simple, tasty and inexpensive dish. Do make it. Szechuan food is hot and spicy but I only used a teaspoon of hot sauce. Add more hot sauce if you like your food fiery enough to set off the fire alarm. 3 alarm fire, 5 alarm fire? It's your choice. In our house, the fire department would merely be responding to a false alarm set off by the security system!

Serves 4 to 6 as part of a meal

Ingredients:

2 packages (3.6 oz) dried mung bean noodles
1/2 lb ground pork or ground turkey
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon dou ban jiang - spicy fermented bean paste*
1 teaspoon tapioca starch or corn starch

Vegetable oil
2 stalks spring onion, chopped into small pieces
Ginger, chopped, about 2 tablespoons
1 cup chicken stock
Sesame oil

Garnish: cilantro


* I didn't have dou ban jiang on hand so I used another type of bean sauce, Ja Jan Vegetarian Sauce. I participated in the Food Fight #3, Pantry Raid where I showed my pantry. I was astonished to find that I had multiples of different ingredients. I decided to declutter and "use it or lose it". The plan is to stop buying new pantry supplies until my stash has dwindled. I would resist impulse buys. How am I doing? So far, so good.

Method:

1. Add soy sauce, rice wine, tapioca starch to a bowl. Mix in pork and marinate for 10 minutes.


2.Soak the noodles in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes, then drain. The noodles will have absorbed some of the water but they should be firm, not mushy. If they are mushy at this point, they will become a gelatinous mess when cooked in the wok. These noodles cost about $1 for a pack of eight so just throw the mushy noodles out and soak another batch.

They will be softened and translucent when stir fried in the wok. Cut them into shorter pieces so that they will be easier to stir fry.

3. Heat the wok first. Pour some oil into the hot pan and swirl it around. Add the ginger and scallions and fry a bit, then add the pork and stir fry together. Add the hot bean sauce and mix everything well together.


4. Add the vermicelli to the pork sauce and stir fry. The noodles will become limp. Add some soup stock and let the noodles absorb the liquid. The noodles should be translucent but they shouldn't be mushy. Add more liquid if necessary. Keep tossing everything in the wok. Sprinkle some sesame oil over the noodles. Garnish with cilantro. Note: the whole cooking process should take less than 10 minutes.

5. Dish up.


This dish should be eaten with rice. For dinner last night we had Ants on a Tree, some leftover grilled beef ribs and a plate of bok choy.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Friday , an exciting weekly blog event featuring pasta recipes sent in by bloggers from all over the world. It is hosted by the talented Ruth Daniels of Once upon a feast.