Ants On A Branch 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 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.

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 ON A BRANCH

Steps:

• With a butter knife, scrape a flat spot on the bottoms of 12 chocolate covered malt balls.
• Place the chocolate chips in a shallow microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 1 minute, stir and microwave for 30 seconds more.
• Set the four pretzel rods on a wire cooling rack to keep them from rolling. Place a piece of waxed paper under the rack to collect any drips, then drizzle on the melted chocolate.
• Before the chocolate sets, press three malt balls, flat side down, on each pretzel to create an ant's body. For legs, dip the ends of six crunchy chow mein noodles into the chocolate and stick them on the pretzel. Use more chocolate to attach mini chocolate chips for eyes and snipped licorice antennae.