Ants climbing the tree 螞蟻上樹, what a great name for a dish! This is a famous Taiwanese street food and it’s a pretty healthy one. Ants climbing the tree 螞蟻上樹 is based upon green bean noodles and a handful of pork mince with a nice spicy edge to it and lots of good oniony flavour. Even though noodles are in the recipe people like to sometimes eat this dish with rice on the side, it’s so tasty it works well.

Ants climbing the tree
The ingredients 食材;

Ants climbing the tree ingredients
- 100g of minced pork
- 2 bunches (nests) of green bean noodles
- 1tbsp black bean sauce
- 1tbsp spicy yellow bean sauce
- 1tsp sugar
- 3 spring onions chopped; white and green
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1tsp dark soy sauce, 1tsp thick soy sauce (or oyster sauce)
- a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of vegetable starch
The method 作法;
- First soak your green bean noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes to soften, then chop them up into smaller pieces with scissors
- Chop and prepare your ingredients as shown
- Heat up the frying pan, no oil required, as the pork mince has a little fat in it
- Add the pork mince and stir fry dry until it separates into little “ants”
- Now push th emince to one side and add a tablespoon on oil to the other side, stir fry your black bean sauce, yellow bean paste
- When you smell the flavour of the sauces cooking nicely add all the other spices except for the spring onion green portion
- Now you can mix everything in with the mince
- Add a single table spoon of mixed soy and oyster sauce
- Introduce your noodles into the stir fry pan
- Mix and stir fry for a few more minutes, in the last minutes add the spring onion greens, a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of vegetable starch – it’s now ready to eat as it is or with rice on the side!

Ants climbing the tree, close up!
Joanne has recorded a how to make Ants climbing the tree 螞蟻上樹 video so you can see and follow the exact chopping sizes, timings and method step-by-step. Treat your family and friends to one of the best Taiwanese street foods. Anybody feel like a bowl full of Ants climbing the tree 螞蟻上樹?
How to make Ants climbing the tree 螞蟻上樹 video
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10 comments
YY says:
May 23, 2013
I had this dish in school when I was 7..the name is so weird, but I can’t forget the amazing taste! Seeing Joanne post this recipe, I decided to try to make it myself and it didn’t disappoint! Thanks a lot for bringing my childhood back 🙂
jj.lymm says:
May 23, 2013
That’s a very nice comment YY, thank you, that’s why I’m here. I will make more and more Taiwanese food 🙂
cindy says:
Jul 7, 2013
I love this dish, I tried it over 3 times now. But I added some chopped Firm Tofu to mine. It add color, and my family loves tofu.
jj.lymm says:
Jul 15, 2013
I like the sound of that Cindy! I think I would like that too 🙂
KK says:
Sep 23, 2014
Hi Joanne,
Greeting from America.
Thank you for all the delicious meal, I’ve followed quite a lots of your recipe and everything so perfect. my kids love it.
Thanks Joanne and hope to see your other traditional Taiwanese dishes
jj.lymm says:
Sep 23, 2014
You’re welcome! more recipes are on the way. please follow my Facebook and Youtube!
Reeze Darragh says:
Jan 5, 2015
Hi Joanne,
I have been following a lot of your recipes. Your cooking reminds me of my grandma’s cooking. Thank you for sharing all your recipes with us.
Much love,
Reeze
jj.lymm says:
Jan 5, 2015
You are welcome! Please follow my YouTube channel for all the latest revcipes! Thank you – Happy New Year
Jolene says:
Mar 29, 2015
Dear Joanne,
What a fantastic idea especially for Chinese or Taiwanese who grew up overseas. I miss Taiwanese food. This is something I would love to share with my half Irish half Taiwanese nieces growing up in Australia. I would love to be able to cook Taiwanese food for my grandparents when I am visiting as that is all they eat even though they graciously try my cooking when I attempt it. I cook anything but Taiwanese food at home not because I don’t like Taiwanese food but because I could never get it to taste like the food I had in Taiwan.
mark says:
Mar 29, 2015
That is the idea behind Taiwan Duck – sharing to many people in the world who are away from their Taiwanese family roots – or just love Taiwanese food!