The Woks of Life's Ants Climbing A Tree

This recipe for Ants Climbing A Tree has been sitting in my Pinterest to-make list and finally I had an opportunity to make it. What enticed me was my husband's and I's love for Sichuan food. Both of us are not big fans of Chinese food (apart from Dim Sum), especially as the offerings are usually horrible greasy western versions of traditional dishes. However, there is a local joint that is Proper, with a capital P, Sichuan cooking. How do we know? The clientele is a big hint (no one speaks English as well as the staff!). We love the spicy, numb your mouth spices although we HATE the super s-l-o-w service!

So instead of waiting around, I decided to make this dish based on its ingredient of spicy fermented bean paste - I have no idea if I bought the right thing but based on the ingredient list I have to just cross my fingers...

Yay or Nay: Nay

It looked so promising, the ginger and spicy sauce making everything a hot shade of red. The flavour is spicy yes, but doesn't have that much depth. It's kind of bland, it could be because I didn't have the two types of soy sauce and just used one, or the paste was the wrong kind but it was a big disappointment. Lesson learned, don't be fooled by styled food pictures!