BWinCA
Well-Known Member
I incorporate the visual into my cooking whenever I can, from plating to participation, and this is a dish which your guests (and you) will actually get a kick out of when you make it.
The dish is called 'Ants Climbing a Tree' because that is exactly what it looks like. You make the noodles in a certain way where they resemble branches of a tree (that's the fun part), and the chopped up green onion (scallions) look like leaves, and the bits of soy-covered ground chicken look like ants.
Ingredients for 6 servings:
10 oz. dry thick rice noodle- pho noodles work well)
Canola oil, or any oil with a high smoking temperature
2 1/2-3 tablespoon finely minced ginger
3 tablespoon spicy fermented bean sauce/paste
1 cup chopped scallions, incl green stems
2 lb. ground chicken
Sauce:
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1-1 1/ 2 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
4 1/4 teaspoons light soy sauce (note- you can substitute 'regular' soy sauce if you can't find light and dark soy sauce)
Instructions:
1) Make sauce.
2) Deep fry noodle. Here is how you do it:
a) Pour enough oil into pan (or wok if you have one) so that you can deep fry a handful of noodles at one time. They must all be completely submerged.
b) When oil is hot enough ( minimum 380F) carefully place noodles into the oil. (Don’t grab too many at one time). They will immediately puff up, twist, bend and grow! You will want to do it over and over again as it's memorizing to watch!
c) Take noodles out of pan and place on paper towel and plate. Set aside.
3) In separate pan, or after you have replaced current pan with fresh oil (1-2 tablespoons), take the ground chicken and sear it on each side for about 30 seconds, then remove and set it aside (you don't have to chop it up at this point as it will be more difficult to get out of pan). Note that I do it in this order because I want my chicken seared. If you don't want to do this step then just skip it.
4) On a medium heat add the ginger to pan and let it release its flavor into the oil for a minute. Then add the spicy bean sauce/paste, and stir. Once mixed add the chicken and chop up and stir-fry until chicken is cooked through.
5) Now add the sauce and scallions. Stir thru.
6) Serve by placing the noodles on each plate first. Then take a few large spoonfuls of the sauce and pour over the noodles, making sure that the sauce covers all the noodles. Then pour the rest of the chicken and scallion sauce over it. You will see the ants climbing up the tree!
The dish is called 'Ants Climbing a Tree' because that is exactly what it looks like. You make the noodles in a certain way where they resemble branches of a tree (that's the fun part), and the chopped up green onion (scallions) look like leaves, and the bits of soy-covered ground chicken look like ants.
Ingredients for 6 servings:
10 oz. dry thick rice noodle- pho noodles work well)
Canola oil, or any oil with a high smoking temperature
2 1/2-3 tablespoon finely minced ginger
3 tablespoon spicy fermented bean sauce/paste
1 cup chopped scallions, incl green stems
2 lb. ground chicken
Sauce:
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1-1 1/ 2 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
4 1/4 teaspoons light soy sauce (note- you can substitute 'regular' soy sauce if you can't find light and dark soy sauce)
Instructions:
1) Make sauce.
2) Deep fry noodle. Here is how you do it:
a) Pour enough oil into pan (or wok if you have one) so that you can deep fry a handful of noodles at one time. They must all be completely submerged.
b) When oil is hot enough ( minimum 380F) carefully place noodles into the oil. (Don’t grab too many at one time). They will immediately puff up, twist, bend and grow! You will want to do it over and over again as it's memorizing to watch!
c) Take noodles out of pan and place on paper towel and plate. Set aside.
3) In separate pan, or after you have replaced current pan with fresh oil (1-2 tablespoons), take the ground chicken and sear it on each side for about 30 seconds, then remove and set it aside (you don't have to chop it up at this point as it will be more difficult to get out of pan). Note that I do it in this order because I want my chicken seared. If you don't want to do this step then just skip it.
4) On a medium heat add the ginger to pan and let it release its flavor into the oil for a minute. Then add the spicy bean sauce/paste, and stir. Once mixed add the chicken and chop up and stir-fry until chicken is cooked through.
5) Now add the sauce and scallions. Stir thru.
6) Serve by placing the noodles on each plate first. Then take a few large spoonfuls of the sauce and pour over the noodles, making sure that the sauce covers all the noodles. Then pour the rest of the chicken and scallion sauce over it. You will see the ants climbing up the tree!
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