Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021 - 79

F L AV O R S

This next dish is one we have served both on January 1
and during the Chinese New Year. It, too, relies on pork,
which is highly valued in China. Noodles are often served
during Chinese New Year meals as a symbol of the hope
for a long life. We were first introduced to the recipe by
Dr. Thomas Huang, who taught chemistry for many years
at East Tennessee State University. He says, " This is a very
common dish from Chungking, Szechuan, China, where
I was born. "
It's also a fun one to make. Children especially love it
because of the name: Ants Climbing Trees-the ants being the ground pork and the noodles the trees.
A friend from Hawaii, Eloise Swain, who tended bar at
The Cottage in Johnson City, Tennessee, into her 90s, advised us on the right kind of bean thread noodles to buy.
She prefers the ones in a bright pink mesh bag. Eloise, by
the way, uses them in another dish we love, Hawaiian
Chicken Long Rice.

Ants Climbing Trees
2 bundles of bean thread noodles (sai fun), available in
Asian markets or in the international section in most large
supermarkets
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely minced
2 tablespoons Chinese black bean sauce
4 ounces ground pork
2 cups chicken stock

Finally, we were curious to find out whether peanuts
have ever served as a pathway to good luck. For over 56
years, we learned, NASA scientists have passed around
peanuts for every major mission event. " Good-luck peanuts made their first appearance at the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
1964 during the Ranger 7 mission. 'I thought passing out
peanuts might take some of the edge off the anxiety in
the mission operations room. The rest is history,' " said
Dick Wallace, Mission Trajectory Engineer.
This gives us a reason to share the recipe for one of
Virginia's most historic dishes, peanut soup, as served by
the Hotel Roanoke. It was created in 1940 by Chef Fred
Brown.

Hotel Roanoke Peanut Soup
¼ pound butter
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 tablespoons flour
2 quarts chicken broth, heated
1 pint peanut butter
1/3 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup ground peanuts
Melt butter in cooking vessel and add onion and celery. Sauté
for 5 minutes but don't brown. Add flour and mix well. Add hot
chicken broth and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from stove,
strain, and add peanut butter, celery salt, salt, and lemon
juice. Sprinkle ground peanuts on soup just before serving.
Serves 10.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways
of Appalachia and the South from their home base in Johnson
City, Tennessee.

½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons regular soy sauce
¼ cup chopped green onions
Soak the noodles in cold water for about 15 minutes. Rinse
and drain them. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over
medium heat. Stir in ginger and cook briefly. Add the black
bean sauce and cook for about a minute. Add the pork and
stir-fry until meat is thoroughly done. Add the chicken stock,
sugar, and soy sauces. Bring to a boil. Then add noodles and
green onions. Stir until noodles have absorbed most of the
liquid.

COURTESY OF HOTEL ROANOKE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

Blue Ridge Country January/February 2021

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