Malatang Recipe: Everything in One Pot!
Malatang is said to have originated along the Yangtze River by the boatmen plying on it. After hard work in a cold environment, they made this spicy dish to fight the cold. Today, Malatang is very popular across the China. It is almost the same as the hot pot, the only difference is you don’t need much time to cook it.
I will share the easiest Malatang recipe where you can use whatever items are left in your kitchen and turn them into a great dish that will blow your tastebuds. This dish can be a great addition to your weekend dinner in the winter. Let’s make it.
Table of Contents
Malatang Recipe Overview
The following chart shows the required time for the different parts of the cooking process and other relevant information. Take a look at it before you start putting things together.
| Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Medium | ||
| Total Time: 40 minutes | |||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories |
| 3 persons | 20 minutes | 20 minutes | 341 kcal |
Ingredients Needed for the Malatang Recipe
This is the perfect put whatever you want’ dish. So, the choice of ingredients is totally up to you. Here is a list of ingredients I commonly use to make Malatang at home.
Main Ingredients for the Recipe
- Wide Noodle: These flat tape-like noodles give some body to the dish. Use 100g of noodles.
- Tofu Skin: Use 5-6 tofu skins.
- Soybean Sprout: 8-10 soybean sprouts should be enough.
- Chinese Cabbage: 1/4 (one-fourth) of a Chinese cabbage, chopped into ribbons
- Flammulina Enoki: Enoki mushrooms taste great in Malatang. Use 10-12 Enoki mushrooms.
- Fungus: You can use 50g of white or black fungus. This has a mushroom-like taste and a chewy texture.
- Meat: Use 100g of sliced beef or ham. Other meat, such as chicken, will also go with it.
- Spinach: 8-10 spinach leaves
- Bean Paste: 2 tbsp of bean paste
- Ginger: 2 tsp of ginger, finely chopped
- Garlic: 1 tsp of garlic, minced
- Scallion: 2 tsp of scallions, finely chopped
- Chicken Power: 1 tsp
- Peanut Oil: 2 tbsp
Sauces, Aromatics, and Seasonings for the Recipe
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Light Soy Sauce: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Dark Soy Sauce: 1/2 (half) tsp
- Cooking Wine or Shaoxing Wine: 2 tbsp
- Sichuan Peppercorn: 2 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorns, both red and green. You should use these two types in a ratio of 1:1.
- Cinnamon: 2-3 sticks
- Dried Red Chili: 5-6 pieces
- Star Anise: 5-6 pieces
- White Cardamom: 4-5 pods
- Sesame Seed: 1 tsp, for garnish
If you want some more veggies, bacon, and aromatic spices, go ahead. Malatang allows you to let your soul break free.
Malatang Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
Even though this dish was invented to cook whatever is in hand without any certain order, I will show you the right steps to get the best aroma and flavor from Malatang. Here are the steps.
Step 1: Prep Your Veggies and Meat
As the choices are limitless for veggies, you might need some to prepare all the veggies. Wash all the veggies thoroughly and cut them into similar sizes. For example, if you cut cabbage leaves into 2-inch strips, chop Enoki mushrooms or other veggies into the same size.
This way, the texture of the Malatang will be more uniform. After preparing the veggies, you should also cut the meat. If you use beef or pork, cut them into 1/4-inch slices. For chicken, make the slices a bit thicker to keep the meat juicy.
Step 2: Start Cooking Malatang
Fortunately, no marination is required to cook Malatang. You can directly start cooking it after the ingredients are ready. To commence the cooking, place a wok on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of peanut oil to the wok.
Step 3: Infuse the Oil with Aromatics
Start off by putting the chopped scallions and ginger. Lightly stir these ingredients. Put the red and green Sichuan peppercorns in the oil. At the same time, add the cinnamon, white cardamom pods, and star anise to the wok. Gently stir the spices to allow them to release the aroma and infuse the oil.
Remember, I am not using the pre-made hot pot base in this recipe. Using individual ingredients gives this dish a more authentic taste compared to using readymade hot pot seasonings.
Step 4: Cook the Bean Paste
As the bean paste is raw, you need to cook it for a bit. So it will go before the other main ingredients of this recipe. Add the bean paste to the wok and mix it well with the aromatics.
Continue frying the bean paste until it releases oil. In this stage, the raw smell of the bean paste will be gone. Splash a bit of cooking wine onto the paste mixture and combine everything.
You Can Also Try: Lotus Root Soup Recipe
Step 5: Add Water and Let the Soup Simmer
Once the bean paste is fried, you can pour about two cups of water into the wok. A better alternative is using chicken or beef stock. If you don’t have the stock ready, use water like me.
After two minutes of adding the water, put 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of soy sauce (both light and dark, half a teaspoon each), and 1/2 tsp of chicken powder. Mix everything well and let the mixture simmer for about five minutes.
Step 6: Remove the Whole Spices
Some of the spices used in Malatang will remain whole, such as cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, star anise, etc. You need to use a strainer to remove all these whole spices from the soup.
Otherwise, they might give you a bad experience while eating. As their flavors have already been extracted, we don’t need those spices.
Step 7: Add the Meat and Veggies
Once the Malatang broth is ready, you can start adding the meats and veggies. Add the prepared vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage, soybean sprouts, Enoki mushrooms, etc., to the broth. Also, add tofu skin, wide noodles, fungus, and meat slices.
Then, stir everything to incorporate them into the broth. After these items are cooked for about 5-7 minutes in the broth, add the spinach. The reason behind adding the spinach at last is to preserve its color. Also, it takes a little time to cook.
Step 8: Finish the Malatang
Heat a pan and add a bit of oil to the pan. Let the oil heat up but don’t allow it to start smoking. In the meantime, transfer the Malatang to the serving dish. Sprinkle the minced garlic and sesame seeds on top.
Take the torn red chilies in a ladle and pour the hot oil on the chili. After a few seconds, pour the chili-infused oil on top of the Malatang. The hot and spicy Malatang is ready to enjoy!
Nutrition Facts of Malatang Recipe
As a lot of ingredients are used in Malatang, it is packed with carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients. Here is a rough estimate of the nutrients present in the dish.
- Total Carbohydrates: 25g
- Protein: 22g
- Total Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 7g
- Total Sugar: 12g
- Cholesterol: 74mg
- Sodium: 482mg
- Potassium: 653mg
- Calcium: 86mg
- Iron: 4mg
- Vitamin A: 2922IU
- Vitamin C: 13mg
Malatang Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- As the choices are limitless for veggies, you might need some to prepare all the veggies. Wash all the veggies thoroughly and cut them into similar sizes. For example, if you cut cabbage leaves into 2-inch strips, chop Enoki mushrooms or other veggies into the same size.
- This way, the texture of the Malatang will be more uniform. After preparing the veggies, you should also cut the meat. If you use beef or pork, cut them into 1/4-inch slices. For chicken, make the slices a bit thicker to keep the meat juicy.
- Fortunately, no marination is required to cook Malatang. You can directly start cooking it after the ingredients are ready. To commence the cooking, place a wok on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of peanut oil to the wok.
- Start off by putting the chopped scallions and ginger. Lightly stir these ingredients. Put the red and green Sichuan peppercorns in the oil. At the same time, add the cinnamon, white cardamom pods, and star anise to the wok. Gently stir the spices to allow them to release the aroma and infuse the oil.
- Remember, I am not using the pre-made hot pot base in this recipe. Using individual ingredients gives this dish a more authentic taste compared to using readymade hot pot seasonings.
- As the bean paste is raw, you need to cook it for a bit. So it will go before the other main ingredients of this recipe. Add the bean paste to the wok and mix it well with the aromatics.
- Continue frying the bean paste until it releases oil. In this stage, the raw smell of the bean paste will be gone. Splash a bit of cooking wine onto the paste mixture and combine everything.
- Once the bean paste is fried, you can pour about two cups of water into the wok. A better alternative is using chicken or beef stock. If you don’t have the stock ready, use water like me.
- After two minutes of adding the water, put 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of soy sauce (both light and dark, half a teaspoon each), and 1/2 tsp of chicken powder. Mix everything well and let the mixture simmer for about five minutes.
- Some of the spices used in Malatang will remain whole, such as cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, star anise, etc. You need to use a strainer to remove all these whole spices from the soup.
- Otherwise, they might give you a bad experience while eating. As their flavors have already been extracted, we don’t need those spices.
- Once the Malatang broth is ready, you can start adding the meats and veggies. Add the prepared vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage, soybean sprouts, Enoki mushrooms, etc., to the broth. Also, add tofu skin, wide noodles, fungus, and meat slices.
- Then, stir everything to incorporate them into the broth. After these items are cooked for about 5-7 minutes in the broth, add the spinach. The reason behind adding the spinach at last is to preserve its color. Also, it takes a little time to cook.
- Heat a pan and add a bit of oil to the pan. Let the oil heat up but don’t allow it to start smoking. In the meantime, transfer the Malatang to the serving dish. Sprinkle the minced garlic and sesame seeds on top.
- Take the torn red chilies in a ladle and pour the hot oil on the chili. After a few seconds, pour the chili-infused oil on top of the Malatang. The hot and spicy Malatang is ready to enjoy!
FAQs
As Malatang requires the use of a lot of items, it is usual to have questions regarding the ingredients and the process. I will clarify some of the most commonly asked questions about the dish. Here you go.
Is hotpot and Malatang the same?
Even though the cooking method is similar, these two dishes aren’t the same. In hotpot joints, you need to cook the dish yourself and it continues cooking as you eat. But Malatang shops usually serve the cooked dish to you.
Is Malatang healthy?
Of course! Malatang contains a lot of different veggies that contain vitamins, minerals, folate, and other vital nutrients. These ingredients improve our skin, hair, and the immune system. So, it can be called a complete food. You will get all your daily nutrients from this one dish.
What is the meaning of Malatang?
The term Malatang means numbing spicy hot soup. This dish was originally made to defeat the cold weather conditions. So, a lot of spices are used to add a kick to the dish. Sichuan peppercorns, dried red chilies, and other spices build the base of the Malatang’s spicy and numbing flavor.
Can I make Malatang for vegeterian?
Yes. Veggies are the main ingredients in Malatang. If you want to make this dish as a vegetarian, you just need to exclude the meat. Even though the protein content might go down a bit, the tofu skin will compensate for that.
Conclusion
Even though prepping so many ingredients takes some time, you can avoid cooking multiple items and cleaning multiple pots by making Malatang. The dish can be cooked in just one pot and turns into a wholesome meal to ensure you get all the necessary nutrients.
I highly encourage you to try this Malatang recipe. As there is no hard and fast rule about the ingredients, you can experiment with this recipe by including other vegetables, such as napa cabbage, lotus root, and more. The lovely aroma and the numbing sensation of the dish will make you cook it more often.
