Topic: Noodles
Very interesting name! I already cooked this dish before I knew its name. I just knew it recently while I was browsing a Thai cooking website.
Accordingly, this is a classic dish in Chinese Cuisine. It consists of a ground meat cooked in a sauce and poured over bean thread noodles (Sotanghon). It is so called because the bits of ground meat that cling to the noodles evoke an image of ants walking on twigs of a tree. Some ingredients to be used in this dish are soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil green onions, garlic and pepper.
There are many variations in cooking this dish, while me, I cooked it this way:
Sorry, the ants are not clearly visible in the picture, they are very tiny. LOL :)
Ingredients:
100 g bean thread noodles (sotanghon)
1/2 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in water then sliced
2/3 cup ground beef
2 tbsp. ginger, crushed then sliced thinly
1 stalk green onions, cut into 1 inch length diagonally
1/4 cup broth
1 red chili pepper, chopped
1 tsp. chili sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Marinade:
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
Directions:
1. Soak noodles in hot water until they are pliable (about 5 minutes). Drain well. Cut the noodles into shorter lengths.
2. Mix all the marinade ingredients then marinate ground beef for 15 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a wok. Add the marinated beef. Stir-fry until the beef has changed color and is nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok. Clean out the wok.
4. Add 1 tbsp. vegetable oil to the wok. Add the chili pepper and ginger. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Add the dried mushrooms. Stir-fry fro few seconds, then stir in the chili sauce and the noodles. Add the broth in the middle of the wok. Add the ground beef to the mixture. Stir until cooked through.
5. Stir in the green onions. Mix everything together and cook for 30 seconds. Serve.