Skip to content
Hóng Kitchen

Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)

Chinese · Easy · Serves 2–3

Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)
Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)
The Sichuan home kitchen's most famous metaphor: the glass noodles' pale branches tangled with the browned minced pork's specks — the "ants" on the "tree" — the whole dish a ten-minute wok built on the bean sauce's savoury cling. The technique is the noodles' soak and the sauce's absorption, the vermicelli drinking the braising body until every strand carries the argument.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The noodles

The pork and the sauce

- The noodles' soak and its one law: the vermicelli soaked to the pliant-not-soft state — 20 minutes in warm water, the strand bending to the knot without the boil's cooked softness. The noodle finishes in the sauce's own liquid; the fully pre-cooked noodle dissolves to the paste's argument. - The sauce's mise: everything measured before the wok heats — the mince's fry is 2 minutes and the liquid's addition immediate, the ten-minute dish's whole speed its own character.
Step 1. The pork's fry and the sauce's bloom — 3 minutes at the fierce flame. The oil at the high flame, the pork mince spread and left 30 seconds to its first crust, then broken and fried to the deep brown's specks (the "ants" themselves — the colour's own argument) — the doubanjiang, ginger, garlic and spring onion whites through for 45 seconds' bloom, the wine's splash at the wok's side. Checkpoint — the mince has browned to the mahogany specks against the wok's red-scented oil and the perfume is the fermented bean's first toast — the colour built dry before the liquid joins, the pale mince the dish's unfinished look and flavour both.
Step 2. The noodles' braise — 5 minutes to the absorbed body. The stock, soy, sugar and pepper in — the soaked noodles dropped to the simmering liquid and the wok held at the rolling simmer 4–5 minutes, the noodles tossed twice through as they drink the body down; the cornstarch's whisper at the final minute only if the sauce runs loose, the spring onion greens over. Checkpoint — the eating test: the noodle's slippery-chew carrying the savoury body in every strand, the browned mince's specks clinging through the tangle — the sauce absorbed (the wok's bottom barely a spoon's sheen at the pull), never pooled — and the bean sauce's fermented depth the whole argument's spine. Chef’s Note — the dish's whole doctrine is the absorption's order: the glass noodle is the sauce's own sponge, and the vermicelli simmered in the braising body drinks the flavour through the strand — where the pre-sauced or boiled noodle wears its flavour only at the surface, the pooled sauce's wet argument the common home failure. The wok's final state wants the absorbed sheen: the strands glossy, the bottom of the wok clean at the spatula's pass. The metaphor's honesty is the engineering — the browned mince's specks grip the drinking strand's starch, and the "ants" stay on the "tree" by the sauce's own absorption.
Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)

Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma Yi Shang Shu)

Prep: 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes soaking · Cook: 10 minutes · Total: About 50 minutes · Serves 2–3

Ingredients

The noodles

  • 100 g dried mung bean vermicelli (glass noodles), soaked 20 minutes in warm water, drained and snipped to manageable lengths

The pork and the sauce

  • 200 g pork mince (the 20%-fat grind)
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) neutral oil
  • 1 tbsp (15 g) doubanjiang, or 1 tbsp (15 g) sweet bean sauce (tian mian jiang) at the milder school
  • 1 tbsp (10 g) ginger, minced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 2 spring onions, whites minced, greens sliced
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy
  • 250 ml chicken stock or water
  • ½ tsp (2 g) sugar, ¼ tsp (1 g) white pepper
  • 1 tsp (3 g) cornstarch in 2 tbsp (30 ml) water, the optional final set

Instructions

  1. The pork's fry and the sauce's bloom — 3 minutes at the fierce flame. The oil at the high flame, the pork mince spread and left 30 seconds to its first crust, then broken and fried to the deep brown's specks (the "ants" themselves — the colour's own argument) — the doubanjiang, ginger, garlic and spring onion whites through for 45 seconds' bloom, the wine's splash at the wok's side. Checkpoint — the mince has browned to the mahogany specks against the wok's red-scented oil and the perfume is the fermented bean's first toast — the colour built dry before the liquid joins, the pale mince the dish's unfinished look and flavour both.
  2. The noodles' braise — 5 minutes to the absorbed body. The stock, soy, sugar and pepper in — the soaked noodles dropped to the simmering liquid and the wok held at the rolling simmer 4–5 minutes, the noodles tossed twice through as they drink the body down; the cornstarch's whisper at the final minute only if the sauce runs loose, the spring onion greens over. Checkpoint — the eating test: the noodle's slippery-chew carrying the savoury body in every strand, the browned mince's specks clinging through the tangle — the sauce absorbed (the wok's bottom barely a spoon's sheen at the pull), never pooled — and the bean sauce's fermented depth the whole argument's spine.

Troubleshooting

SymptomCauseFix
Noodles dissolved to pasteThe soak over-long, or the simmer past the drinkThe 20-minute pliant soak; the 5-minute ceiling
Sauce pooled at the wok's baseThe liquid over-measured, or the noodle pre-boiledThe 250 ml measure; the sauce absorbed, not served
Mince pale and clumpedThe crowd's steam, or the stir's impatienceThe spread mince's 30-second crust before the break

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The dish serves the wok's moment — the glass noodle's absorbency turns the leftover to the paste's apology by the second hour. The components (the browned mince's base, the soaked noodle) hold separately 1 day for the 5-minute re-assembly. - The sauce's register runs the two schools: the doubanjiang's chilli-fermented fire (the Sichuan default) and the sweet bean sauce's milder brown (the northern-leaning home version) — the same technique, the two dials. The vegetarian's argument runs the mushroom's dice and the vegetable stock's body on the identical doctrine.