Easy Malatang Hot Pot

Easy weekday one pot soup recipe to cook for yourself when you are craving something soupy, spicy, and comforting.

I love the convenience of a one pot recipe and this malatang soup hits the spot every time! It’s the perfect easy weekday recipe to make sure you get a mix of proteins and vegetables in one serving.

If you enjoy cozy vegan asian recipes, give the following recipes a try.

• vegan creamy wontons in sesame sauce
• high protein miso udon soup
• spicy korean tofu and kimchi stew

What is malatang hot pot?

Malatang is a common soup dish that originated from Sichuan, China. It is a customizable hot pot dish that is cooked in a numbing peppery broth with the flavors of the Sichuan peppercorn and dried red chilies. While hot pot is served and made in a communal pot with dinners eating together at a table, malatang is usually made to order.

Malatang restaurants are great for when you’re just dining by yourself and not looking for the fuss of an entire sit down hot pot experience. Typically when you enter into a malatang restaurant you’ll be taken to a section where you can select a mix of raw proteins, vegetables, and carbs. Once you get to the counter you can select a broth and the staff will cook everything together for you. Since malatang restaurants are usually charge you by the weight of the ingredients, it can get expensive! Making malatang at home is easy, affordable, and convenient, especially if you have the ingredients already prepped in the fridge.

Key ingredients to make malatang hot pot at home

The best thing about malatang hot pot is that it is customizable to your preferences! You can select a variety of proteins, vegetables, and starches. This recipe also great if you have a ton of different vegetables in the fridge that are about to go bad.

• Malatang soup – the easiest way to make the malatang broth is to use store-bought spicy hot pot soup base. You can find this at most Chinese or asian grocery store. Keep these in the fridge and just add water to make a vegan broth or you can also use chicken or beef broth for added flavor.
• Protein – you can use a variety of meat proteins such as beef slices, seafood, and eggs. For vegan options you can use a variety of tofu such as fresh soft tofu, frozen tofu, and tofu skin.
• Vegetables – the possibilities are endless! I like to use a variety of leafy vegetables such as bok choy, napa cabbage, and chinese spinach. You can also add in a mix of mushrooms such as fresh shitake mushroom, wood ear mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms.
• Starch – I love using wide noodles such as wide sweet potato or potato noodles, udon noodles, or ramen noodles. You can even use rice cakes or dumplings!

Serving and Storage

• Fresh herbs – Fresh herbs is the perfect addition to anything that has a spicy and numbing taste. I like to add fresh cilantro or green onions.
• Storage – You should try to only cook as much as you can eat. The beauty of malatang is that it is one pot and minimal prep which means less dishes as well! If you have leftovers you can store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3 days and reheat it on the stovetop.