What is the meaning of the idiom of Ants on a Tree

Ants on the Tree is a dish. Ants on the tree is a traditional Chinese dish, the main ingredients are vermicelli (vermicelli) and pork foam. The taste is light, smooth and delicious, the color is red and bright, the minced meat is pasted on the vermicelli (shaped like ants crawling on the branches), which is a unique flavor to eat. This dish is named after the shape, ants for the minced meat, the tree for the vermicelli, the image is realistic.

The origin of this dish is said to be related to Dou E, a character written by Yuan Dynasty playwright Guan Hanqing.

Ants on a tree

Dou Tianzhang, a scholar, gave his daughter, Dou E, to his debtor, Mrs. Cai, as a child bride before he left for Chuzhou to apply for the imperial examination. Dou E in the Cai family filial piety mother-in-law, wait for her husband, the day is not bad. Soon after her marriage, her husband died of a disease and her mother-in-law fell ill.

Dou E used her weak shoulders to carry the family's heavy burden, she in her mother-in-law to seek medical treatment, but also find ways to change the pattern of doing some delicious meals, for her mother-in-law's health, her mother-in-law gradually improved. But because of the financial constraints, Dou E has no choice but to go on credit. In front of the meat case, the meat seller said, "You haven't paid back the money you owed on the previous two occasions, so you can't get any more credit today." Dou E had to beg nicely, and the meat seller was pestered, so he cut a small piece of meat for Dou E.

It was time to cook, Dou E thought, "What can I do with such a small amount of meat? Her eyes fell on the top of the cupboard, where there was a small handful of vermicelli left over from New Year's Eve. She took down the vermicelli and softened it with boiling water, then chopped the meat into pieces, added onions and ginger to the pot and stir-fried it, put in soy sauce, stir-fried the vermicelli for a few moments, and finally added shredded green garlic and pepper to start the pot.

Lying on the bed, my mother-in-law asked, "Doue, what did you cook that smells so good?"" It's fried vermicelli." With the words, Dou E then brought the dish to the bed, before the mother-in-law moved her chopsticks, she found that there were many black dots on the vermicelli, she mimicked her presbyopic eyes and asked, "How come there are so many ants on this?" When she knew the reason and tasted the dish, she couldn't help but praise it and said that the dish should be called "Ants on the Tree".