Mala broth

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A divided 鴛鴦鍋: mala on one side, clear chicken broth on the other
• A ladle and a slotted spoon for each side, never swapped
• Frying chillies and Sichuan pepper catches the throat, so run the range hood or open a window

How the time splits

1. 10 minSnip the chillies, ready the ginger, garlic and spring onionhands on
2. 20 minFry the Sichuan pepper, chillies and bean paste over a low flamehands on
3. 20 minAdd the stock and simmer fifteen minuteshands off

Split pot

Mala broth on one side, Clear chicken broth on the other.

Method

1. Snip the dried chillies into lengths with scissors, shaking out the seeds if you want less heat; chop the bean paste fine; slice the ginger, crush the garlic, cut the spring onion into lengths. Run the range hood or open a window: frying chillies and Sichuan pepper catches the throat.
2. Put the oil in the wok, add the Sichuan pepper over a low flame and fry it gently for two or three minutes until fragrant, then add the chillies and fry until they turn deep red and the oil reddens. Too much heat and the chillies blacken, and black chillies are bitter: throw them out and start again.
3. Add the bean paste and fry it over a low flame, stirring all the time, for five to eight minutes, until its moisture has cooked off, the oil has turned red and it smells rich. Bean paste catches and burns more easily than anything else in the wok, so keep the spatula moving.
4. Add the ginger, garlic and spring onion and fry until fragrant, splash in the wine and add the rock sugar.
5. Pour in the stock or water, bring it to a full boil, then simmer over a medium flame for fifteen minutes. Taste it: the bean paste is very salty, and it seldom needs more salt. Strain it for a cleaner broth, or tip in the chillies and pepper as well for more fragrance.
6. Pour it into one side of the divided pot, a little lower than the clear side, so it does not splash across when it boils. Spoon the chilli oil over the top before it goes to the table. The clear chicken broth goes in the other side.
7. At the table, each side keeps its own ladle and slotted spoon. The mala side grows saltier and hotter as it reduces; top it up with boiling water or unsalted stock, never with broth from the clear side, and after every top-up wait for a full boil before raw food goes in.

The short route

• A mala hotpot base packet from a supermarket or Chinese grocer, brought to the boil with water or boxed chicken stock. The packets are very salty and very hot, so use a little more water than the packet says.
• For a taste of your own, use half the packet and add a tablespoon of fried bean paste and a pinch of Sichuan pepper.

What goes in this pot

• Shaved beef: ten seconds, eaten as soon as it changes colour
• Beef tripe: about a minute; longer and it toughens
• Luncheon meat: sliced, eaten once hot through
• Tofu: in early, to soak up the mala broth
• Potato: sliced thin, cooked until soft
• Quail eggs: cooked ones, heated through in the pot
• Wide sweet-potato noodles or glass noodles: to finish; they catch, so stir

What to put in, and for how long ›

The sauce plate

Sichuan sesame oil dipHong Kong sesame sauce

Safe at the table

• Indoors, an induction plate or an electric hotpot is the safe choice. Australia’s gas safety regulators say butane cartridge stoves are for outdoor use only, because of the risk of carbon monoxide. If you do use one indoors, as Hong Kong homes do, keep it well ventilated, and never in a small or closed-up room.
• With a portable gas stove, never use a pot wider than the pot stand, about 20 cm at most unless the maker’s instructions allow more, and never one that reaches over the canister compartment. Never put two stoves side by side, and never leave one burning.
• Fit and remove the canister away from any flame or heat, with its notch facing up. Check for leaks with soapy water first, and do not use a stove that leaks or is damaged. Never put the stove on another cooker (an induction plate especially) or on anything hot, and put nothing between stove and pot that the maker did not supply: no foil, no extra stand.
• Buy a stove certified for Australia, set it on a level surface that will not burn, never on glass, and do not run it longer than the maker’s instructions allow. Keep sprays, lighters and paper well away. When you finish, turn it off, take the canister out and store it somewhere cool, dry and ventilated, never in a car or in the sun.
• Keep raw and cooked apart: use a separate pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon for raw meat and seafood, and never eat from them.
• After topping the pot up, wait for it to come back to a full boil before anything goes in.
• Chicken, pork, liver and seafood must be cooked through before eating. Sliced pig’s liver needs at least three to five minutes at a full boil; Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety advises at least five minutes for seafood; clams boil until they open and then three to five minutes more, and any that stay shut are thrown away. Enoki boils at least two minutes and is never eaten raw.
• For pregnant women, children under five, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system: beef until no pink remains, and seafood for the full five minutes.
• Raw meat plates stay out no longer than two hours. Leftovers go into the fridge within two hours, keep no more than three days, and are reheated only once, until boiling hot.

Take care

• Chilli bean paste usually contains wheat (gluten) and some contains soy; bought mala base packets commonly contain soy, wheat and sesame, and some contain peanut, so read the label. The sesame paste saucer contains sesame, and soy sauce contains soy and wheat. Sesame paste is on the list of foods to avoid in pregnancy.
• The smoke from frying chillies and Sichuan pepper catches the throat, so keep the kitchen ventilated. The mala side carries a layer of hot oil that scalds worse than the clear broth if it splashes; children sit further back and eat from the clear side.
• At the table, wait for a full boil after every top-up before raw food goes in, and keep raw and eating chopsticks apart.

The story

Mala broth comes from Sichuan and Chongqing and reached Hong Kong with the mainland hotpot restaurants. In Hong Kong it is usually only half the pot: those who like the heat eat from the mala side, the older people and children who do not eat from the clear side, and the family still sits round one pot.

Same kind

Clear chicken brothHong Kong satay brothPeppery pork-bone broth

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.