Ants Climbing A Tree / Ma Yi Shang Shu

Ants Climbing a Tree /蚂蚁上树 is a classic Szechuan dish in Chinese cuisine. It is so called because the bits of ground meat clinging to the noodles evoke an image of ants walking on twigs. This dish is made from mung bean noodles, also know as Chinese glass vermicelli. These thin noodles become soft and translucent after soaking in water.

#Ingredients :	#Marinade:
120 g Glass vermicelli 5 Dried mushrooms 2 slice Ginger root 1 Small red chilli pepper 3 tbsp Cooking oil 1 tsp Chilli sauce 2 stalk Spring onions 225 g Ground pork	1 tbsp Light soy sauce 2 tsp Granulated sugar 1 tbsp Jiafan rice wine (or sherry ) 1 tsp Sesame oil Pinch of cornstarch

1. 
   Add the marinade ingredients to the ground pork, adding the cornstarch last. Set aside for 15 minutes. Soak the glass vermicelli in hot water until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Soften the dried mushrooms in hot water. Reserve ¼ cup of the soaking liquid Thinly slice the mushrooms. Cut chilli in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, and chop coarsely. Mince the ginger and cut the green onion diagonally into inch pieces.
   
2. 
   Heat a frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the heated wok. Stir in the marinated pork until the pork has browned and remove. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Stir in the ginger and chilli until aromatic. Add the dried mushrooms. Stir-fry briefly, then add in the chilli sauce and the vermicelli. Pour in the reserved soaking liquid and return the ground pork to the pan. Add in the spring onions and stir until noodles and sauce are well blended, and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Garnish with some chopped spring onions and serve.