Pork & crab 'ants climbing trees'
Make this delicious Sichuan snack made with pork and crab – its name comes from the minced pork that resembles ants climbing trees.
Sift the rice flour into a bowl, then the wheat starch and tapioca starch. Add the salt and mix well. Pour in 250ml cold water and mix well to combine and create a watery, floury, opaque liquid (a consistency like very thin batter). Add the groundnut oil. Set aside.
In a small frying pan, fry the bacon lardons pieces until crispy, then remove and drain on kitchen paper. Set the unwashed pan aside for later.
Re-whisk the batter, then add one ladleful into a heatproof square glass dish (25cm x 25cm, internal area size 19cm x 19cm, ensuring it fits inside a wok or steamer). Sprinkle over the bacon bits, the dried shrimps and spring onions – not too much or you will weaken the rice roll. Put on a steam rack set over a wok full of water, making sure the dish is set straight. Put on a lid and steam on a high heat for 7 mins. Take off the lid and remove the dish (be careful as it will be very hot) and set on a cold-water tray bath to cool and set the rice noodle roll. As it cools and sets, use another shallow heatproof dish (the same size as the first to ensure equal sized rolls), repeat the process and set to steam for 7 mins. You should finish with five rolls.
Use a spatula to loosen the sides of a cooled cheung fun, then start to roll in onto itself into a long rectangle. Set aside on a heatproof dish. Top up the steamer as necessary.
Stack the rolls onto a heatproof plate, then put onto a steamer rack in a wok and steam, covered, for 2 mins to warm through.
Heat the pan with reserved fat from the bacon and put on the heat. Add 4 tbsp water, the light soy, sesame oil and sugar, and cook for 1 min, then strain into a small heatproof bowl.
Mix the sriracha sauce and oyster sauce for dipping. Remove the rolls from the steamer and pour over the seasoned soy liquid. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.