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Chinese Name: 蚂蚁上树
English Name: Ants on the tree; Sauteed Vermicelli with minced Pork
Category: Sichuan cuisine川菜
Main Ingredients: Minced pork; Vermicelli
Ants on the tree蚂蚁上树, also known as Minced meat vermicelli肉末粉条, is one of the traditional specialties of Sichuan Province四川省. It got its name from the fact that the minced meat was attached to the vermiculate in the shape of ants crawling on branches. The exact history of the dish is not available. However, in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, it is very common.
It is said that the scholar Dou Tianzhang窦天章 gave his daughter Dou E窦娥 to the creditor Grandma Cai as a child bride before leaving Chuzhou楚州 to take part in the imperial examination in the capital. Dou E is able to live a decent life in the Cai family, serving her mother-in-law and husband. But soon after, her husband fell ill and died, and her mother-in-law fell ill in bed.
As a last resort, Dou E shouldered the heavy burden of the family with her weak shoulders. She tried to make some delicious meals with different designs to help her mother-in-law recuperate, and gradually she got better. But their economy became tense, and Dou E had to force herself to go to credit. In front of the butcher’s shop, the butcher said, “You haven’t paid back the money you owed two times before, so you can’t credit it anymore.” Dou E could only plead with her, but the butcher was so helpless that he had to cut a small piece of meat for Dou E.
When it was time to cook, Dou E thought, what can I do with this meat? When she thought, her eyes fell on the top of the cupboard, where there were a handful of fans left over from the New Year. Dou E had an idea. She took down the vermicelli, soaked them in boiling water, and then cut the meat into pieces. Add onions and ginger, stir fry them in the pan, add soy sauce and vermicelli, stir fry them for a while, and finally add shredded green garlic and pepper.
The mother-in-law lying on the bed asked, “Dou E, what dishes do you cook so delicious?” “It’s fried fans.” As soon as the words ended, Dou E brought the dishes to the bed. Before moving her chopsticks, her mother-in-law noticed that there were many black spots on the fans. She squinted with her presbyopia eyes and asked, “Why are there so many ants on this?” When she knew what was going on and tasted it with her chopsticks, she couldn’t help praising the dish and named it “Ants On the Tree”.
How to make Ants On the Tree?
The dish of ants climbing trees has rich nutritional value. Vermicelli is rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, niacin, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, and other minerals. It has a good taste attachment and can absorb the taste of various delicious soup ingredients. Pork is rich in high-quality protein and essential fatty acids, and provides heme and cysteine to promote iron absorption, which can improve iron deficiency anemia, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
Ingredients：
- 150g pork stuffing
- 1 handful of sweet potato flour
- 1 chive
- A piece of ginger
- Two spoonfuls of light soy sauce
- A spoonful of oyster sauce
- 1 clove of garlic
- A spoonful of Pixian bean paste
- A spoonful of cooking wine
Instruction:
- Step 1, Soak the vermicelli in water until soft. Cut the beef into minced meat, put in a spoonful of cooking wine, and marinate with a little salt for 10 minutes.
- Step 2, Put water in the pot, turn off the fire after the water bubbles, pour the soaked vermicelli into the pot, scald until the vermicelli are bright, then remove it and cut it off.
- Step 3, Heat the oil in a wok and add the onion and ginger to the wok. Then add a spoonful of Pixian Bean Paste. Stir fry over low heat until the red oil comes out, then pour in the marinated minced beef, and stir fry over low heat to disperse.
- Step 4, Stir fry the beef until it changes color, pour in water, boil it over high heat and then turn it to low heat for 10 minutes. Then add a spoonful of sugar to freshen up.
- Step 5, Add the vermicelli, stir fry over low heat, and boil over low heat for 5 minutes to collect the juice.
Tips:
- When making the dish of Ants on the tree， the raw material should be mung bean vermicelli.
- After adding the fans, burn one side with a small fire, and then turn over to burn the other side.
- Soy sauce and bean paste have a salty taste. If you want to add salt separately, be careful.
- Vermicelli contains a lot of aluminum, which should not be eaten too much at a time.
