I'm going to eat ants!?
No. As many strange things as my journey has taken me to: not ants.
At least not today. Today's food is cellophane noodles. These noodles are common through Asia, typically made from Mung Bean Starch (and sometimes known as 'Bean Thread Noodles'). They are also known as Glass Noodles in the West.
As for our "Ants", the Chinese sometimes name dishes "poetically"instead of "literally". For this famous Sichuan dish, minced or ground beef is cooked and mixed with cellophane noodles, and the somebody, somewhere felt this made him think of ants climbing along branches.
I look at this dish and think of one word: delicious.
Ants Climbing on a Tree
100g Cellophane/Beanthread/Mung Bean Noodles
3 tsp Rice Wine
Salt
100g minced or ground beef
2 tbsp oil
3 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp chili paste
350 ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
3 Scallions
Soak the noodles in hot water for ten minutes, then drain.
Mix beef with rice wine and a dash of salt, and let soak for a couple of minutes.
Heat a wok or pan with 2 tbsp of oil, then add the minced beef mixture and fry for several minutes. Then add the Soy Sauce and Chili Paste and sautee for another minute.
Add the stock and noodles for the wok, along with Dark Soy Sauce, and simmer until the broth is mostly gone. Add the Scallions, stir, and serve with rice.
This dish was fantastic. Spicy, delicious, and despite being pasta fairly low in calorie.
It's also the last Chinese article we have to offer for now. We head to our next destination, a place stranger and more alien, the inhabitants of which create dishes unequaled in their unique flavor. That place is: Louisiana?
