Ants climbing up a tree 蚂蚁上树 (Ma yi shang shu)

Ants climbing up a tree 蚂蚁上树 (ma yi shang shu) is not something you would necessarily say when asked what you would like to eat, but maybe it should? This strangely named dish  for a stir fried sweet potato noodles may be exactly what you want! If you like chewy, springy noodles soaked in an aromatic, slightly spicy and very savoury sauce with mince meat, then you may want to remember this name.

As a kid, I used to love when this stir fried sweet potato noodles dish would show up on the dinner table. Because first, I love anything starchy, which is the main ingredients of these noodles…sweet potato starch noodles. Second, I love flavour! And these noodles are jam packed with savoury, spicy, rich flavours. Finally, the chewy yet springy texture of the sweet potato noodles are showcased perfectly here in contrast with the crispy morsels of minced pork. One of my favourite dish that goes so well with a bowl of white rice.

The “tree” part of the recipe

To the fair, many recipes for “ants climbing up a tree” 蚂蚁上树 calls for vermicelli noodles, or otherwise known as “cellophane noodles” due to its transparent appearance and delicate texture. These noodles are often made with mung bean starch or rice starch and are thin and fine strands of dried bundles of noodles. When cooked, vermicelli tend to have an airy light texture compared to sweet potato noodles.

Sweet potato noodles by comparison are more robust, has a mochi-esque texture, in a soup, it tends to be slippery but in a stir-fry, it’s more elastic and bouncy. Both noodle options are great as the “tree” in a plate of ants climbing up a tree 蚂蚁上树, sometimes it just comes down to what you have on hand.

The “ants” part of the recipe

If I’ve not made it clear earlier, there is no actual ants in the making of this dish, the “ants” in this ants climbing up a tree comes in the form of minced meat. Due to the stickiness of the noodle and sauce, the small pieces of the mince meat very much gets tangled in amongst the strands of the noodles, as if ants were climbing up? Get it? Whatever the name, this works in the taste department as every bite of noodle will have plenty of deliciously season mince meat within.

You could absolutely use mince pork, beef, chicken…etc. But my favourite protein here is pork belly for the higher fat to lean ratio. The rendered pork fat does wonders to flavour the noodles and brings a richness that cannot be achieved any other way. 

As well, you don’t need too much meat, the “ants” are accompaniment and not the star. So it’s easy to hand chop the pork belly to get that optimum texture of mince meat.

Want more delicious noodle recipes?

Scallion oil spaghetti 

Liang Fen (Mung bean jelly noodles)

Sichuan cold noodles - Liang mian

Biang Biang noodles 

Dan Dan noodles

Beef Chow Fun 

Wild garlic knife cut noodle soup