A Simple and Delicious Recipe for Ants in Trees
Ants in Trees is a classic Szechuan dish that has a unique name due to its appearance. It is a delicious and easy to make meal that combines Chinese glass noodles, seasoning, and ground meat all stir-fried together. This simple recipe will show you how to make this tasty dish right in your own kitchen!
Ants Climbing a Tree, also called Ants in Trees or Ma Yi Shang Shu, is a classic Sichuan dish made with slippery mung bean noodles and finely crumbled ground pork. Despite its unusual name, there’s nothing complicated about this flavorful Chinese noodle dish. The “ants” are the tiny pieces of ground pork that cling to the noodles, while the long glass noodles represent the branches of a tree.
This easy Sichuan noodle recipe comes together in about 30 minutes, making it a great choice when you want a quick dinner with bold Asian flavors. The noodles are soaked in hot water until tender, then cut into shorter pieces so they’re easier to stir-fry and eat.
The pork is seasoned with soy sauce, rice wine, and sambal chili paste before being cooked over high heat until browned and broken into very small pieces. Chicken broth is then added and reduced before the noodles are tossed into the pan. As the remaining liquid cooks away, the seasoned pork clings to the noodles, creating the distinctive texture that gives the dish its name. (goingmywayz.com) The original recipe uses mung bean noodles, also known as glass noodles, bean thread noodles, or cellophane noodles, so including all three names makes the recipe easier for home cooks to understand and shop for. (goingmywayz.com) Serve Ants Climbing a Tree immediately with extra green onions and pair it with other Asian-inspired dishes for a complete meal.
Serve this with some crispy Ragoons, Soybean Sprout Soup or some crunchy Mushroom Spring Rolls.
Wok Pan
Blue Diamond Hybrid Nonstick Stainless Steel 12” Wok with Lid, PFAS-Free Ceramic Diamond Bond Stir-Fry Pan, Induction Ready, Dishwasher & Oven Safe, Metal Utensil Safe, Stay-Cool Handle, Silver.
Ants Climbing a Tree – Sichuan Glass Noodle Recipe
A easy recipe for Ants in Trees dish. Ants Climbing a Tree – Chinese glass noodle stir fried with seasoning and ground meat is one of the classic Sezchuan dishes that get its unique name because of its appearance.
- Total Time: :30
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 ounces mung bean noodles
- 2 ounces soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 1 tablespoon sambal chili paste
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 10 ounces ground pork
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 4 green onions, chopped, divided
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Soak the noodles in enough hot water to cover by 1 inch for 20 minutes. Use kitchen shears to cut the noodles into 3 to 4-inch pieces and drain thoroughly in a colander for 10 minutes.
- Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and sambal chili paste in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the cornstarch and whisk until combined. Add the pork and mix until thoroughly integrated. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Place a 12-inch saute pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Once the oil shimmers, add the meat mixture. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, breaking the meat up into very small pieces. Add 2/3 of the green onions and continue cooking and stirring until the meat is well browned and in very small pieces, approximately 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the chicken broth. Cook until reduced, approximately 3 minutes.
- Slowly add handfuls of the noodles to the pan, tossing with the meat mixture until combined and the pieces of meat cling to the noodles and no liquid remains. Serve immediately with the remaining green onions.
- Prep Time: :20
- Cook Time: :10
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stove Top / Instapot
- Cuisine: Szechuan