In this video, watch Chef John put a flavorful spin on a Sichuan classic—“Ants Climbing a Tree.” This savory, satisfying glass noodle dish features ground pork, garlic, ginger, scallions, and a rich, spicy sauce that clings to the noodles just right.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Ant's Climbing a Tree Glass Noodles.
00:09That's right, this recipe is a lot more than just a very catchy, slightly disconcerting name,
00:14since it's beautiful, very easy, and extremely delicious.
00:18And I'm pretty sure if you give it a try, it's going to be your new favorite noodle dish.
00:23And to get started, we're going to soak some glass noodles in some cold fresh water.
00:27And it's critically important that the ones we're using are made from mung beans,
00:31and not ones made from rice or tapioca.
00:34All right, those are going to look almost identical, but the texture is going to be totally different.
00:39Oh, and I should mention there's probably going to be some potato starch in there,
00:42but mung beans should be the main ingredient.
00:45And what we'll do after kind of pulling those apart and making sure they're submerged
00:48is let them sit in this water for 10 minutes so they have a chance to partially hydrate
00:53before we add them to our sauce.
00:55And while that's happening, we can start working on the rest of the dish.
00:59And that's going to start by breaking up and browning some ground pork
01:03and some vegetable oil set over medium-high heat.
01:06And as usual, how small you break up your pieces of meat is going to be up to you.
01:11But keep in mind, the dish is called ants climbing a tree.
01:14So I guess we're shooting for something close to the size of an ant.
01:17And please, nobody ask which ant, since I know they come in different sizes.
01:23But anyway, it really doesn't matter, since at no point is any part of this dish really
01:27going to look like ants climbing a tree.
01:29And then what we'll do once we do have that crumbled to our desired size
01:32is let it continue cooking and browning for about a minute or two,
01:36just so it takes on a little bit of color and gets a little more savory.
01:39So I cook mine and stir in for another couple minutes
01:43or until it looked a little something like this.
01:46And once it does, we can add the next set of ingredients,
01:49which will include some finely minced garlic and ginger,
01:52as well as a nice big spoon of Chinese spicy fermented bean sauce,
01:57which is made with fermented soybeans and salted chilies,
02:01or at least this one was.
02:03And these can range from mild to insanely hot and spicy.
02:07And the one I'm using was kind of right in the middle.
02:10And what we'll do is cook that stirring for about a minute,
02:13just to take the raw edge off those aromatics,
02:16and give us time to make sure each one of those pork crumbles is coated with the goodness.
02:20And once that's been accomplished,
02:22I'm going to toss in a little bit of sejuan pepper,
02:25plus a little bit of white sugar,
02:26and we will cook that stirring for another 30 seconds or so.
02:30And the reason I'm adding the sugar towards the end of this step
02:32is because I don't want it to start to caramelize and get too dark,
02:35which is going to change the flavor profile.
02:39Although having said that, that might be really good,
02:41and I'll have to try that someday.
02:43But anyway, after giving that a brief saute,
02:45we will stop and add the wet ingredients,
02:48which includes a little splash of soy sauce,
02:51plus a couple cups of chicken broth,
02:53or pork broth if you have it,
02:55which you don't.
02:56And what we'll do is give that a stir and raise our heat to high.
03:01And we'll wait for this to start boiling before we add our noodles,
03:05which as you know, we're soaking for 10 minutes in that cold fresh water.
03:09And after 10 minutes, they're not going to be super soft,
03:11but they are going to be much more flexible and probably look like this.
03:15And that's it.
03:16Once soaked, we'll transfer that into a strainer and let it drain very well,
03:21at which point, assuming our sauce has come to a boil,
03:24we can move into final production,
03:26which means transferring our glass noodles in,
03:29along with a nice handful of freshly sliced green onions.
03:33And what we'll do is take our tongs
03:35and cook this stirring for only like two minutes,
03:37which after that 10-minute soak is really all we're going to need.
03:42Right, we don't want these noodles to get soft and starchy.
03:45Okay, what we're going for is something that's just barely tender
03:48and still a little bit firm with a very pleasant chewiness.
03:52So while you're doing this, feel free to pull one out and give it a test.
03:57And the first time you work with these glass noodles,
03:59you're going to think you have way too much liquid, but you don't.
04:03As you'll see, these noodles are going to continue to soak up the sauce.
04:06And by the time we're eating, it's going to be perfect.
04:08And that's it after cooking the stirring for a couple minutes.
04:12I gave it a final test and determined it was exactly where I wanted it to be.
04:17So I transferred that into a bowl
04:19and then finished up by garnishing with some more freshly sliced green onions.
04:24And in just the couple minutes it took to serve this up
04:26and garnish the top and grab a fork and spoon,
04:31those noodles somehow, someway, had soaked in almost all the juices,
04:34which is why this needs to be fairly juicy when you pull it off the stove.
04:40And that, my friends, bizarre names aside, is just a magnificent noodle dish.
04:45Right, the taste is very rich, very spicy, and extremely savory.
04:50And when you combine that with the totally unique texture of the glass noodle,
04:53it is a combination that's going to have you craving more.
04:56Plus, the appearance of these noodles is just so enticing and so beautiful
05:00since they really do get almost see-through and very glass-like.
05:05So we've basically checked all the boxes here
05:07as it looks good, tastes good, and feels good.
05:11And of course, if you're into it,
05:12you could toss in some seasonal vegetables or some greens
05:15or maybe some mushrooms.
05:18I mean, you guys are after all the ants
05:20of whether to add other things to enhance.
05:23But typically, this is a very simple dish,
05:25so we do want to be careful not to overcomplicate things.
05:28But whether you add other ingredients
05:30or make this as shown,
05:32it is a truly amazing noodle dish with a great name.
05:36And I really do hope you give it a try soon.
05:39So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
05:42a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
05:45And as always, enjoy.