Numbing Sichuan-Style Hot Pot

Author Notes

In the humid weather of China's Sichuan province, locals know how to deal: a round of hot pot that simultaneously burns and numbs the tongue.

This synergistic flavor sensation is known as mala, a trademark of Sichuan cuisine that marries the capsaicin of chile peppers with the numbing quality of Sichuan peppercorns. Perched hungrily around a simmering pot, diners dunk in meats and vegetables that soak up the peppery, piquant flavors of the red-hot broth. And as they eat, they start to cool off—because the spicy food induces sweating; concurrently, Sichuan peppercorn numbs their taste buds against the burn of the spice, permitting them to eat even more.

Though this physiological benefit is certainly useful, most hot pot enthusiasts definitely don't need to have a practical reason to consume Sichuan hot pot. Best enjoyed in a group, hot pot is always a lively feast that can carry on for hours fueled by animated conversation, with diners taking turns to fish favorite ingredients from the bubbling soup while burning and numbing sensations oscillate on their tongues—opposing forces battling for gustatory dominance.

In Sichuan, it's more customary to enjoy hot pot at a restaurant, or to buy prepackaged hot pot base, than to make it entirely from scratch. In the U.S., however, the availability, price, and quality of hot pot restaurants and prepackaged bases can vary greatly, so my family has always loved preparing the meal from scratch. We cook the base first, then set up the pot on an electric stove in the center of the dining table, with a huge spread of cut raw vegetables, sliced raw meats, and other add-ins gathered around it. Cooking and eating hot pot can be a time commitment—but one that is sure to warm your body and soul. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate family reunions, friend get-togethers, and holidays. (The base can also be prepared earlier in the day or even the night before, which will make the flavors even more potent; store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge.)

In this recipe for Sichuan hot pot, I've chosen ingredients that are readily available at Chinese or Asian supermarkets in the U.S., where most Food52 readers are based. If you don't have a physical grocery store near you that carries these ingredients, many can also be found online nowadays.

Traditionally, Sichuan hot pot is made with caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil), which imparts a lovely vegetal, toasty aroma. If you can't find it, you can substitute with peanut oil or another vegetable oil. Though I recommend using dried Sichuan chiles such as chaotian (often called "facing heaven" in English) or er jing tiao for their unparalleled fragrance, they are also more difficult to find in the U.S. The tianjin, or tien tsin, pepper is much more common at Chinese or Asian supermarkets in the U.S. and can definitely do the trick, but in my experience, they are not quite as aromatic and are also a bit spicier.

A note on heat: Sichuan hot pot is quite spicy, and the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns feels rather like mild electric currents buzzing on the tongue. In other words, if you're not yet familiar with Sichuan cuisine, do prepare your mouth and mind to be walloped by a sensory explosion. Feel free to adjust amounts of the dried chiles and Sichuan peppercorns to suit your spice tolerance—but the mala sensation, of course, is what makes this a Sichuan-style hot pot!

For dunking ingredients, I usually pick up thinly sliced raw meats from the frozen section of Chinese or Asian supermarkets; they're precut with hot pot eaters in mind and cook quickly in the broth. Prior to eating, I defrost them along with any other frozen ingredients, like seafood or meatballs. Vegetables should always be cut into sizable slices or chunks so they'll be easier to fish out of the pot. Variety is key here! The uniqueness of Sichuan hot pot really shines when the pot includes ingredients of many contrasting textures, each of which will carry that mala flavor differently.

You most likely won’t need all of the suggested dunking ingredients, unless you’re hosting a very large get-together or holiday party. A loose guideline would be to select two or three types from each category: meats, seafood, vegetables, and other ingredients (like mushrooms, eggs, or tofu puffs). Larger parties (and hungrier eaters), however, generally call for even more variety of ingredients. As for amounts of each ingredient, I would generally recommend preparing three to four pieces of each meat or seafood and five to six pieces of each non-meat ingredient for every diner (with the assumption that some will eat more and some will eat less).

For dipping sauce, I love starting with toasted sesame oil and finely grated garlic in a 1:1 ratio, which complements the intense flavors of the hot pot really nicely. You can simply provide these ingredients and allow diners to mix their own sauce to taste.
—Megan Zhang