Recipe: Sichuan-style mala hot pot
For most of my life, I didn’t care for hot pot;in my opinion, it was a dish in which too many things were going on, and yet they all soaked up the same, monotonous flavor from the boiling broth.That is, until I had Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot when it opened an outpost in Houston some years back. That was where I learned the broth is only half the game. Hot pot is also about the dipping sauce.Since then, hot pot has become a regular meal in our household because it’s healthy, quick to prepare, and (most importantly) delicious. It’s especially satisfying in the wintertime when the temperatures are cold outside, and you’re craving something steamy and soul-warming within the comforts of home. But hot pot is also a great addition to the summertime meal repertoire due to its simplicity: it’s essentially the boiling of fresh produce and proteins in a light broth. And if you make this mala version here, it’ll make you sweat which, contrary to many of our beliefs, is supposed to cool you down—that’s why the closer a country is to the equator, the spicier their cuisine. So don’t let the term “hot pot” scare you—as counterintuitive as it may seem, it’s still a great dish for the summer.This recipe was inspired by my last meal in Taipei, and it’s become a regular on our dining table. It’s helpful to buy an inexpensive hot pot apparatus (or this electric hot pot if you don’t want to deal with a stove burner) which has a divider in the middle so you can have two different broths—a mild and a spicy—boiling at the same time. My particular pot has a curvy center divider, which is supposed to represent a yin-yang symbol, reflecting the milder broth’s yin and the spicier soup’s yang. You might also want to get some small strainers to cook noodles or eggs—just place them in the strainer basket and lower into the broth for a few minutes. These small strainers will ensure you won’t lose your noodles (yuk, yuk).Don’t forget the dipping sauce is key! Feel free to experiment here and come up with your own awesome sauce.I dig hot pot for its communal trait—it requires everyone to gather around a table and eat family-style. It can just as easily be prepared for a weeknight dinner with just the hubs and me or a weekend feast for six of our friends. It’s also fancy enough to be part of a holiday spread. It’s versatile and not too fussy, perfect for entertaining, and everyone’s bound to find something they’ll like swimming in the steaming broth.