Chongqing Malatang

Chongqing Malatang

　　Chongqing Malatang: The flavor is represented by the preparation method of Liangping Malatang from Chongqing. The main characteristic of Chongqing-style malatang is that its formula has a relatively mild taste, with the flavor mainly dissolving in the broth. There isn’t much oil, but the soup is richly aromatic. A primary representative is Huafei Sijiwang Malatang. Since it is mainly served as fast food or a snack in urban areas, the taste of the malatang formula is quite accessible to the general public.

　　Main ways of eating:

　　　　The way of eating malatang differs from traditional Chinese cuisine. It’s not about having fully cooked dishes served directly on the table for you to eat. Instead, semi-prepared ingredients are brought to your table, and you handle the cooking yourself (i.e., you cook and eat by yourself). The degree to which the ingredients are blanched or boiled is entirely up to you, the diner.

　　　　1. Blanching (Shuan): This means using chopsticks or tongs to pick up the ingredients and blanch them in boiling water or broth. The key points are: First, distinguish between different types of ingredients — not all can be blanched directly. Generally speaking, tender and crisp ingredients that cook very quickly are suitable for blanching, such as duck intestines, kidney slices, liver slices, pea sprouts, spinach, etc. Ingredients that are slightly denser and take longer to cook, such as tripe, mushroom liver, and beef slices, need to be blanched a bit longer. Second, observe the changes in the broth — when it is boiling vigorously and well-oiled on the surface, the blanched food will be both delicious and stay warm. Third, control the heat — overcooking makes food tough, undercooking leaves it raw. Fourth, hold the ingredients firmly when blanching, or they may fall into the pot and become overcooked or disintegrate.

　　　　2. Boiling: This means putting the ingredients directly into the soup to cook thoroughly. The key points are: First, choose ingredients that are suitable for boiling — those that are denser in texture, such as ribbon fish, meatballs, shiitake mushrooms, etc., which require long heating times before they’re edible. Second, control the cooking time, as some ingredients may fall apart or dissolve if boiled too long.

　　　　3. The experience of eating malatang is generally to start with meat and then move to vegetables. The broth should always be boiling vigorously when you blanch your ingredients, and everything should be fully immersed in the broth. Secondly, adjust the spiciness to your liking: those who love intense numbing-spicy flavors can blanch from the oily edges of the pot, while others can choose the center where the broth is bubbling most vigorously. Thirdly, it's essential to pair your malatang with a cup of tea to stimulate the appetite, aid digestion, cut through the grease, refresh the palate, and reduce the intensity of the numbing-spicy sensation.

　　Preparation method:

　　　　1. Making the broth base: Place a wok over high heat, add vegetable oil and heat until 60% hot. Add Pixian bean paste (finely chopped first) and stir-fry until fragrant and slightly burnt. Quickly add minced ginger and Sichuan peppercorns, stir until fragrant, then immediately pour in fresh stock. Next, add mashed fermented black beans, finely ground rock sugar, beef tallow, fermented glutinous rice wine, cooking wine, salt, pepper, dried chilies, and caoguo (black cardamom) among other seasonings. Once it comes to a boil and the foam is skimmed off, the broth base is ready.

　　　　2. Preparing the main ingredients: Wash the vegetables. Cut rabbit kidneys, eel, and duck intestines into 2 cm squares. Cut tripe and pig esophagus into approximately 4 cm squares. Slice luncheon meat into around 4 cm thin pieces. Slice vegetables into around 3 cm slices. Use cleaned bamboo skewers to thread the ingredients, making each skewer weigh about 30–40 grams.

　　　　3. Blanching: Place the broth base in the wok over high heat, keeping it at a gentle simmer. Use the bamboo-skewered ingredients and blanch them according to the required heat level for each type of food until cooked.

　　　　4. Dipping: Place the cooked ingredients in a dish containing chili powder and fried salt. Dip them according to your taste preferences. You can choose to dip or not, and how much chili or salt to use is entirely up to you.

　　Tips:

　　　　Ingredients turning out undercooked: The main ingredients used in malatang should be relatively quick to cook. Avoid ingredients that are hard to blanch, such as chicken wings, chicken feet, duck feet, or beef. For ingredients like eel and ribbon fish, allow a bit more blanching time. When blanching these, avoid moving them around too much or too quickly. Just control the heat properly, and you won’t have an issue with undercooked food.

　　Key tips:

　　　　The preparation of malatang is actually not complicated. The most important step is stir-frying the seasoning base — a well-stir-fried base results in a more fragrant and visually appealing pot. Coupled with premium medicinal herbs for aroma, the effect is twice as good with half the effort. The bright red broth is so enticing it makes your mouth water and stimulates a strong appetite.

　　　　The true key to enhancing the flavor lies in the preparation of the dipping sauce (oil dish). This is what makes malatang unique. Just the oil dip alone requires more than ten ingredients to blend, with a flavor profile that is mainly salty and savory. In many cities, malatang prepared in a hotpot style loses the original essence of malatang, let alone the authentic flavor. Sichuan cuisine is generally known for being strongly flavored and bold, leaving a lingering aftertaste that makes people want to come back for more.

　　　　The spiciness of Sichuan isn’t as intense as we might imagine. That’s because the chili peppers eaten by Sichuanese people are usually stir-fried or pan-roasted beforehand. As a result, unlike chili peppers from other provinces, they don’t burn your stomach. The spiciness of Sichuan peppers stays mostly in the mouth — what we call “not heart-burning.” Those who have been to Sichuan will surely understand this feeling.