The classic Sichuan dish “Ants Climbing a Tree” (also known as “Ants Climbing a Hill”). Someone with an abstract sense of humor must have created this dish, seeing the minced pork as ants and the noodles as branches. Nevertheless, I have seen a fellow food enthusiast I follow from North Jersey on Instagram post pictures of this many times and since no restaurants around here have it, I decided to make it myself. My coworker who is Chinese hooked me up with some spicy fermented Chili bean paste which is integral to the recipe. The preparation was extremely easy by Asian cooking standards. The taste was phenomenal, even though the consistency was a little wetter than I expected (I have read there are wet and dry versions so this isn’t exactly a mistake). I would make again, but with less liquid.