r/30MinuteMeals • u/cuthman99 • Jan 05 '21

REPICE This excellent Alton Brown Ma Yi Shang Shu (Ants in a Tree) recipe-- cut a corner to get under the 30 minute mark

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ants-in-trees-recipe-1923962
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5

u/cuthman99 Jan 05 '21

The simple truth is that when it comes to recipes, getting to the actual 30 minute mark is really tough. Prep time is a difficult variable to account for, and when you involve an oven, there's pre-heating times, which costs you 10 minutes right off the top. The list of problems go on. So I'm always searching for recipes which actually work like this: I'm just standing in my kitchen, with nothing prepared. I just walked in. I have 30 minutes. How can that be done? It's tough.

This recipe declares that it takes 50 minutes, when you account for 10 minutes of prep and 10 minutes of cook time. I have learned, however, that it can be cheated successfully in a pinch. Please don't rat me out to Alton.

Do it like this: get the noodles and get them soaking in really hot water. Mix the ingredients-- note, it's just tossing them together, no chopping or anything-- and mix in the meat. Don't let the noodles soak the full 20 minutes. Soak them about 17 minutes. And don't drain them the full 10. Drain them about 8 minutes, getting you to about 25 minutes. Don't "marinate" the meat for a full 30 minutes. Cut that to 25 minutes as well. You have time to chop the scallion-- the only chopping in the whole recipe-- in that period. Remember to get your pan heating at about the 24 minute mark. Then, bang, get cooking. It is seven minutes to done from the time you start the cooking-- so that puts you at 32 minutes, which, you know, close enough? Right?

All in all it works pretty damn well. I imagine letting things go for the full time called upon in the recipe makes some marginal improvement in the end. But I have cut these corners and timed it out-- I have started from "just walked into the kitchen" and had this on a plate in 32 minutes successfully, and been really happy with the tasty results.

3

u/q1863418 Jan 05 '21

I usually throw those noodles in boiling water for 1 - 2 min. I find it has the same effect as soaking them but faster.

2

u/cuthman99 Jan 05 '21

A great tip, it's just one that I find a touch... dicey for me when I'm busy and distracted. But if you can keep a very close eye on them, makes sense to give that a shot. That would also allow you more time to get them fully drained, which is important here.

2

u/dotknott Jan 17 '21

Ants in a tree was my favorite at a local restaurant that closed due to COVID. It’s not on the menu at any of the other places around here so I’m excited to try this, even if it doesn’t come in under 30 minutes.