Ants Climbing the Tree (without ants version)

For the past few days, I have been cooking for dinner for the two of us at home as we think it is healthier and we are sick of packing and eating the same food everyday from this area. Since both of us are not very picky eaters, we are very happy to have very simple dishes everyday. Simple means 1 soup + 1 vegetable dish to go with rice.

Normally, the ingredients are prepared (soaking, washing, cutting & etc) a day ahead so that I can start cooking after I reach home from work. This definitely cut short the meal preparation time.

Today, I am cooking a dish named "Ants Climbing the Tree". This cuisine is mostly available in Chinese restaurants. I've always found this dish fantastic and very appetizing. It is a hot and spicy dish which originates from Szechuan, China. As the bits of meat are fried together with the mung bean vermicelli, the presentation resembles ants climbing up a tree.

However, I am going to skip the meat as both of us do not fancy eating meat.

Ingredients:

(2 persons)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 bundles dried mung bean noodles

1/2 small chili pepper (chopped)

1 tsp ginger (minced)

1 stalk chopped spring onion (cut in small rings)

1 dash sesame oil

Mixture of sauce (mixed ahead):

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp spicy fermented bean paste

1 tbsp soya sauce

1/2 cup of chicken stock (I used water)

Method:

1. Soak the mung bean vermicelli in warm water for about 10 minutes. Drain well and cut into shorter lengths (around 1 inch) and put aside.

2. Heat up the wok under medium heat and pour in the vegetable oil. Swirl the oil around the wok.

3. Add small chili pepper, ginger & spring onion to the wok and stir fry briefly until aromatic.

4. Stir in the mixture sauce and noodles. Let the noodles absorb the sauce. Keep tossing briefly around 2-3 minutes and then sprinkled with some sesame oil.

5. Dish up.

Outcome:

It did not come out as much as I wished it could. It was so different from the ones I have tried in the restaurants. Furthermore, the noodles lumped together and it was very dry. It was not spicy enough though the overall taste was OK. In the end, we managed to finish it as it was edible. I would not rate this dish very high but hope to improvise my skill and ingredients in future.