(Mala Huo Guo - Numbing and Hot)
At its simplest, hot pot is a delicious simmering broth that you dip and cook various bite-size food items in and then nosh. Spicy Mala Huo Guo, which originated in Chongqing, takes hot pot up a notch as it’s specifically known for its numbing and hot flavour profile which you get from the liberal use of chillies and Sichuan peppercorns. (Mala roughly translates to numbingly spicy).
As with most iconic dishes and culinary traditions that are many centuries old, recipes differ from region to region, family to family. With this, plus a large language barrier, my attempt at recreating this dish is probably naive and elementary. Nonetheless, I had the most wonderful time trying. The recipe below is based on a classic Chongqing hot pot from Fuchsia Dunlop’s book with additional inspiration from this video series.
Some things to note about Mala hot pot:
🌶️The hot pot broth is made from loads of chillies, Sichuan peppercorn, doubanjiang and numerable other aromatics and spices that are cooked down with oil into a spice base. That base is then mixed with a bone broth.
🌶️The heat of the chilis is actually there to open up our palates to rich flavours and mouth adventures. It’s not just for pain.
🌶️Take your time when eating hot pot as it’s supposed to be a relaxed, party party vibe, with no need to rush.
🌶️When it’s time to eat use a hot pot and tabletop burner like this setup (I had neither so I used a cast iron witches cauldron and just crowded around my stove. Not ideal but still funsies.) Alternatively, just use a saucepan that’s tall enough to hold the broth.
ORDER OF EVENTS First, make your hot pot broth. Then arrange all of the food you want to cook in your hot pot. Next, make your dipping sauce. Get your beer. Sit around the hot pot. Dip the food in said hot pot. Remove the food from hot pot, dip in dipping yum sauce. Put in mouth. Swallow. Drink some beer. Repeat.
MAKES: 2-4 people (Makes 2 L of Hot Pot broth)
TAKES: 2 hours
HOT POT SOUP BASE INGREDIENTS
2 star anise
A 2-inch chunk of cinnamon bark
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cardamon
1 tsp cloves
a chunk of dried tangerine peel (optional)
3 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 oz of Baijiu alcohol (alternatively use vodka or rum)
30 grams of Sichuan chilis peppers (preferably er jing tiao or lantern chilis)
15 grams of rock sugar
2 L of chicken or beef stock (store-bought or my recipe here)
1 cup of beef tallow or coconut oil
30 grams of Sichuan chile bean paste (doubanjiang)
30 grams fermented black beans
2-inch piece of ginger sliced into medallions
6 garlic cloves
A bunch of spring onions, chopped into chunks
Salt to taste
A couple of glugs of Shaoxing wine
DIPPING SAUCE
(Choose a combo of the following or keep it simple, whatever your preference)
Mix the ingredients in a small bowl together. The quantities I’ve added are suitable for one person’s dipping bowl.
4 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp of finely chopped garlic
1 tsp black vinegar
a pinch of scallions chopped
2 tbsp of cilantro chopped
HOT POT DIPPING INGREDIENTS (choose whatever suits your fancy, but go for a variety of tastes and textures. Give your palate the adventure it has been waiting for.)
Meat - thinly sliced beef, pork, chicken etc. (I bought these pre-sliced from TNT Supermarket but you can also just slice them ever so thinly yourself)
Seafood - prawns, sliced white fish, scallops etc
Vegetables - bok choy, cucumbers, spinach, gai lan, mushrooms, lotus root, daikon etc.
Noodles - sweet potato noodles, fresh udon, instant ramen noodles
Tofu - tofu knots, tofu puffs, etc etc etc etc
Frozen Dumplings or wontons
INSTRUCTIONS - How to make the soup base
Place your Sichuan peppercorns in a bowl, pour a couple of glugs of alcohol over them. Set aside for 30 min. (Baijiu alcohol is traditionally used but I only had rum on hand and it worked fine. Soaking the peppercorns in alcohol is supposed to help open the aromas and prevent them from burning when you later fry them in oil).
Do the same with the spices. In a bowl, place the star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, cardamom, clove and tangerine peel and pour a couple of glugs of alcohol over them too. Let this sit for 30 min.
Take the chillies, break them in half, empty out all the seeds and then boil them in water until they are tender and make your fingers red when squeezed. Pour off the water once done and let the chilis cool.
Once cooled, chop half of the chillies into a paste and leave the other half unchopped.
Heat up your cooking oil in a wok. (Most recipes call for beef tallow or rapeseed oil, I used coconut oil).
Fry the spring onions and half of the ginger on medium heat until golden and fragrant. Remove both the onions and ginger with a slotted spoon and compost. (This step just flavours the oil).
Now add all of the chilis into the wok and fry on medium heat until the chilis are crisp but not burned and the oil has turned red.
Add in the spices, and fry until fragrant.
Add in the peppercorns, and fry until fragrant, burning off the booze as you go.
Add the chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), fermented black beans, garlic, the rest of the ginger, and a couple of glugs of wine. Fry until fragrant.
Add in the rock sugar.
Add in your stock.
Simmer for 30 min and salt to taste.
When it’s time to eat, transfer the soup base into what you are serving your hot pot in. Pour yourself a drink and high five yourself in the mirror for being great.
PREPARE THE DIPPING INGREDIENTS
Slice all of the things you want to eat into thin pieces that are easy to grab with chopsticks.
Arrange them all on different plates by colour and alphabetical order. Place them close to the hot pot.
Make your dipping sauce, and get your side of rice ready if you want rice.
Bring the hot pot broth up to a boil, and then down to a simmer.
Begin adding ingredients to the hot pot broth. Keep an eye on seafood or meat as they don’t take long to cook. Once the food is cooked to your liking, remove it with chopsticks or a spider strainer. (The chilis aren’t meant to be eaten so avoid those)
Dip your food in the dipping sauce and eat right away or with a side of rice. *as the broth boils away, just top off with hot water