Title: Ants climbing up a tree
 Categories: China, Ham/pork, Archived
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1 lb Pork shoulder steak, boned
           -and finely chopped, not
           -ground
      2 tb Soy sauce, light
      2 tb Chinese rice wine or dry
           -sherry
      1 ts Ginger; grated
      6    Scallions; thinly sliced
      1 c  Finely chopped cabbage or
           -Napa (celery cabbage)
      1 oz Chinese dried mushrooms,
           -soaked in water for 2
           -hours,
           Drained and finely chopped
           -(reserve the water)
      4 c  Oil, peanut; for deep frying
      1    Package (4 ounce) glass
           -noodles (sai fun)
      2    Garlic cloves, chopped
      1 tb Hot bean sauce
        pn Sugar, granulated
           Pepper, black; to taste
      2 tb Cornstarch dissolved in 2
           -tablespoons water
      1 tb Oil, sesame, toasted
 
  Iceberg lettuce leaves, 2 or 3 for each person Bone and finely chop
  the pork. Do not grind this as you want very small pieces to "climb"
  on the branches of the noodles. Marinate the pork in the soy, wine
  and ginger for about 15 minutes. Slice the green onions. Finely chop
  the cabbage and mushrooms, reserving the soaking water from the
  mushrooms. Heat the oil in a wok until it is just beginning to smoke.
  Use good ventilation in your kitchen for this one! Open the noodle
  package and undo them a bit. Drop into the hot fat in small batches.
  They will immediately puff up into wonderful white crunchy noodles.
  Turn quickly to be sure that all of them are cooked. Remove from the
  pan and drain on paper towels. Be very careful with this. You could
  burn yourself. Set the noodles aside. Heat another wok or frying pan
  and add 1 Tablespoon of the peanut oil. Add the chopped garlic and
  toss for a moment. Add the meat and marinade and stir fry, mixing it
  about, until the meat is tender but not dry, about 3 minutes on high
  heat. Remove the meat mixture and add the vegetables to the wok. Stir
  fry over high heat for 3 more minutes. Return the meat to the pan and
  add the hot bean sauce, sugar and black pepper. Stir fry for 1 minute
  and then add the cornstarch dissolved in the water. Stir until the
  sauce thickens. If you have too little sauce, add a bit of the water
  in which you have soaked the mushrooms. Add the sesame oil and stir.
  Place the fried noodles on a large platter and pour the meat and
  vegetable mixture over the noodles. Do this carefully so that the
  little pieces of pork and mushrooms will cling to the "branches".
  Toss at the table in front of your guests. Each person then takes a
  bit of noodle and meat sauce and places it in the center of a lettuce
  leaf. Roll it up like a burrito and enjoy. Serves 6-8 as part of a
  Chinese meal Source: The Frugal Gourmet Cooks With Wine From The
  Cookie Lady's Files
  
  Submitted By   CHEF BRUCE HANNA
  
  File