Chongqing and Sichuan province, China. Hot pot (huo guo — fire pot) has roots in Mongolian and Northern Chinese cooking, but the Sichuan mala version with its tallow-based chilli broth is a specifically Chongqing innovation from the 19th century.
Sichuan hot pot (mala huo guo) is a communal cooking experience — a divided pot of bone-based broth in two styles (mala red broth and clear mild broth) maintained at a rolling boil, into which diners cook thin slices of beef, lamb, vegetables, tofu, and various offal. The experience is as much social ritual as it is food. The dipping sauce (sesame paste with fermented tofu, soy, and green onion) is made per person at the table.
Tsingtao or Chongqing lager — cold beer consumed continuously during hot pot to buffer the escalating mala heat. Ice cream afterwards is the Chongqing tradition — the cold sweet disrupts the Sichuan peppercorn numbing.
{"The mala broth base: beef tallow rendered, then doubanjiang, whole dried red chillies, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, black cardamom, and ginger bloomed in the fat — then beef bone broth added","Mise en place: all proteins and vegetables pre-sliced (paper-thin for beef, thicker for vegetables), arranged on plates before seating","Thin-sliced meats: beef fatty brisket and lamb shoulder, frozen briefly and sliced on a meat slicer to 2mm — cook in 15-30 seconds in the boiling broth","The dipping sauce: sesame paste thinned with broth, fermented red tofu (nan ru), soy sauce, chilli oil, chopped garlic chive, spring onion","Cooking sequence: dense vegetables first (lotus root, potato), then proteins, then leafy vegetables last","The numbing-heat (mala) accumulates as the meal progresses — this is intentional and desirable"}
The moment where Sichuan hot pot lives or dies is the personal dipping sauce construction — each diner should be provided with the ingredients to build their own sauce. The ratio of sesame paste to chilli oil is personal; some want heat, some want the sesame to balance the broth's heat. The sauce makes every bite different.
{"Boiling everything simultaneously: the broth becomes cloudy and the flavour muddied — cook in small batches","Weak broth: the mala broth must be deeply flavoured before service — taste and adjust","Wrong dipping sauce: the sesame-fermented tofu sauce is characteristic of Chongqing hot pot — do not use straight chilli oil"}