Ants climb trees with vermicelli and minced meat, ginger, bean paste, garlic and other materials, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onion. Because after cooking, minced meat sticks to vermicelli, just like ants climb trees, so it is named after its shape. This dish is a relatively light one in Sichuan. Although it is bright red and crisp, it is not spicy.
There is a legend about Dou E when ants climb trees. It is said that Cai, who was sold by her father to her creditor as a child bride, is very filial to her mother-in-law and the family's life is not bad. But after her husband died, her mother-in-law fell ill in bed.
While treating her mother-in-law, Dou E also tries to make her mother-in-law eat better, hoping that she can recover as soon as possible. When her mother-in-law began to get better, all her family's money 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, so she asked, "Why are there ants on it?" Dou E told her mother-in-law that it was minced meat, but because of her mother-in-law's words, this dish was called "ants climbing trees".