Ants climb trees with vermicelli and minced meat, ginger, bean paste, garlic and other materials, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onion. Because the minced meat sticks to vermicelli after cooking, just like ants climb trees, it is named after its shape. This dish is a relatively light dish in Sichuan cuisine. Although the color is bright red and crisp, it is not spicy.
There is a legend about Dou E when ants climb trees. It is said that she was sold by her father to her creditor Cai as a child bride, but she was very filial to her mother-in-law and the family's life was not bad. But after her husband died, her mother-in-law was ill in bed.
While treating her mother-in-law, Dou E also tried to make her mother-in-law eat better, hoping that she would recover soon. When her mother-in-law began to get better, all the money at home was spent. On this day, Dou E went to buy meat, but because she always paid, even if Dou E begged politely, the butcher only gave her a piece of meat the size of a finger.
Dou E had a brainwave and thought of meat. When she got home, she cut the meat into pieces and fried it with vermicelli, onion and ginger to make a fried vermicelli with minced meat. Before eating, my mother-in-law only saw many black spots on the fan because of her bad eyes, and asked, "Why are there ants on it?" Dou E told her mother-in-law that it was minced meat, but this dish was called "ants climbing trees" because of her mother-in-law's words.