The Mala Market | Inspiration & Ingredients for Sichuan Cooking Blog

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Sichuan Braised Chicken with Chestnut + Shiitake (Banli Shaoji, 板栗烧鸡)

Cooking With Pixian Doubanjiang~~ Sichuan braised chicken with chestnut and shiitake (板栗烧鸡, bǎnlì shāojī) in a dutch oven requires minimal babysitting for maximum flavor. Ma’s side of the family prepares shaoji with whole chicken and traditional taro obbligato, but this recipe combines bone-in chicken legs, roasted chestnuts and dried shiitake with the usual Pixian hongyou douban for everyday shaoji (within the hour!). The fact that we now call this dish “everyday” says it all. One godless fall day in her early youth, Mala Mama and her two older brothers were...

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Cooking with Pixian Doubanjiang: Erjie Tuding (二姐兔丁) Second Sister Rabbit Cubes

A Chengdu Hawker Original~~ Chengdu’s famous Erjie Tuding is based off a Sichuan 凉拌 (liángbàn)/cold-dressed dish traditionally eaten in the fall. It belongs to our reader-favorite Cooking with Pixian Doubanjiang recipe series, which highlights Sichuan doubanjiang cooking methods that are less well-known than classics like Mapo Doufu and Twice-Cooked Pork. If you’ve never thought of using doubanjiang in a cold dish, this is your sign!  There are several variations of Sichuan’s cold-dressed rabbit (凉拌兔丁, liángbàn tùdīng; also 麻辣兔丁, málà tùdīng), but the most famous is Chengdu’s 二姐兔丁 (èrjiě tùdīng), “Second Sister Rabbit Cubes.”...

aromatic chili oil in glass sealed jar

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Aromatic Sichuan Chili Oil (Xiangla Hongyou, 香辣红油)

Lajiaoyou the Mainland Sichuan Way, ft. Caiziyou (Pt. 2)~~ Picture this: It’s Fall 2021 and you’re making your own aromatic Sichuan chili oil at home, ready to shovel down yesterday’s leftovers with an onslaught of 红油 (hóngyóu), literally “red oil,” straight from the (gorgeous! reusable! glass!) jar. The Mala Market’s 菜籽油 (càizǐyóu)/roasted rapeseed oil is in stock, Adele just dropped her six-year-comeback divorce album, Seasonal Affective Disorder has yet to creep in, and now your hongyou chaoshou game has never been better. Life is good. The first whiffs of five-spice...

Dessert / Plant

Sichuan Pepper Ice Cream With (Optional) Brown Sugar Sesame Swirl (Hua Jiao Bingqilin, 花椒冰淇淋)

Flower Pepper Ice Cream~~ Believe me when I tell you that Sichuan pepper and ice cream are a case of opposites attract. I had heard tell of this ice cream flavor for a while, but was skeptical myself: “What?” I thought. The spice that brings the citrusy, numbing punch to mapo tofu and hot pot and numerous other fiery Sichuan dishes being used as the main flavor of a dessert? But then I finally made this ice cream, and—wowza—it was a revelation. We think of Sichuan pepper, or hua jiao,...

Plant

Sichuan Hot and Sour Shredded Potato (Suanla Tudousi, 酸辣土豆丝)

Weeknight Shredded Potato There comes a time in every potato’s life when it graduates out of the larder to emerge peeled, quartered, cubed, sliced, hasselbacked, mashed, puréed, you name it. In China, you’ll also find Sichuan Hot and Sour Shredded Potato (酸辣土豆丝, suānlà tǔdòusī), a stir-fry mainstay in restaurants and homes. Though shredding is a common Chinese potato treatment, it remains a niche cut in the U.S., favored only for its breakfast potential. Yes, tudousi’s closest living ‘Murican relative is the griddle-fried shredded potato hash brown at your favorite old-school...

Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan) / Vegetarian

Sichuan’s Pickled Chili Crisp (Zhalajiao, 渣辣椒)

      Taste of the Sichuan Countryside This recipe for 渣辣椒 (zhālàjiāo), or 渣海椒 (zhāhǎijiāo) in some areas, was a long time coming to our family dining table here in the United States. An all-purpose seasoning of fermented chili in cornmeal, zhalajiao (or “pickled chili crisp” as I’m calling it in English) can be stir-fried or steamed with any dish—and when pan-fried alone, the crispy accompaniment dresses up everything from plain white rice to 回锅肉 (huíguōròu). Mala Mama last tasted this traditional Sichuan dish in 1988, when my dad’s...

Baked Niangao

Chinese New Year / Dessert / Plant

Baked Niangao (年糕) Sticky Rice Cake

The Good Luck Cake Baked niangao: king of kings, the rice cake to end all rice cakes. O blonde mochi brownie, symbol of growth and prosperity, equalizer among Asian aunties. This is no lifeless Quaker rice cracker, nor even the stir-fried Chinese sticky rice cake by the same name. Baked niangao is traditional steamed 年糕 (niángāo)—soft, springy, sweet glutinous rice flour dessert—restyled. An auspicious Lunar New Year specialty and year-round treat now prepared with a fraction of the effort thanks to that staple of Western kitchens, the oven. Make it...

Sichuan pao cai naturally fermented pickles

Cold Dishes / Restaurant Classics / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan) / Vegetarian

Sichuan’s Naturally Fermented Pickles (Paocai, 泡菜): Starting Your First Batch

A Lacto-Fermented Pantry: DIY Sichuan Pickles This paocai guide, originally published in September 2017, was updated in August 2021 with new photos and more guidance as we launched the mouth-blown Chinese pickle jar pictured above at The Mala Market. Have you ever tried making pickles without vinegar? There’s a bit of a learning curve involved in letting natural lacto-fermentation sour your vegetables instead of vinegar. But there’s also huge payoff for the effort. Not only in health benefits—fermentation creates good bacteria, or probiotics, that aid in digestion and vitamin absorption—but...

Posu Bao

Bao & Dumplings / How to Cook With Soy Sauce / Pork

No Sweet Sour: Yunnan Posubao (破酥包)

Yunnan’s Flaky Baozi~~ Iconic 破酥包 (pòsūbāo), literally translated as “crumbly bun,” is a unique steamed 包子 (bāozi) from Yunnan province. Its flaky layered skin is stuffed with either sweet or savory fillings. The origin tale dates back to 1903, when the pastry chef 赖八 (Lai Ba) of Yuxi invented posubao by adding lard to his baozi dough. The addition of lard made the wrapper cloud-like, with a loose and mouth-melting texture. Unlike neatly folded 小笼包 (xiǎolóngbāo), or soup dumplings, posubao has almost no folds. Instead, it has a fragile appearance,...

Dessert / Plant / Soups & Stews

Snow Fungus Jujube Dessert Soup (Yin’er Tang, 银耳汤)

Refreshing Summer Dessert~~ This version of 银耳汤 (yín’ěr tāng), or snow fungus jujube dessert soup as we’ll call it, is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) quadruple threat. Yin’er tang is often served after banquet meals, and it’s a frequent staple in our Chinese home. Moreover, with high quality jujubes as a natural sweetener, we rarely end up adding extra sugar. Better yet, it transitions seamlessly between the hottest and coldest of days. In the winter, yin’er tang is nourishing and delicious eaten warm straight from the pot. Then, once summer arrives,...

from overhead blue porcelain plate filled with liangban carrot daikon salad and garnished with fresh cilantro against a black backdrop

Plant

Spicy Daikon Carrot Salad (Liangban, 凉拌)

Our Favorite No-Cook Side~~ In cooler months, they’re sweetest, and in warmer months, they’re cooling—we enjoy radish and carrot year-round in this spicy daikon carrot salad, more traditionally known as a 凉拌 (liángbàn) or “cold-dressed” dish. Slivers of these bright root vegetables spring from their whole form into shredded strips like nonchalant supper party confetti. It’s any host’s low-maintenance sidekick: two-step prep, no stove or oven space required, unfussy if you leave it unattended for several hours before serving. A dressing cocktail elevated by Mala Mama’s authentic Sichuan Chili Oil (ft. caiziyou!)...

Bao & Dumplings / Pork / Restaurant Classics / Soups & Stews / Southwest (Sichuan, Yunnan)

Sichuan Chili Oil Wontons (Hongyou Chaoshou, 红油抄手)

A Taste of Childhood These Sichuan Chili Oil Wontons (红油抄手, hóngyóu chāoshǒu) take us back to slurping down a bowl of chaoshou at our fave Chongzhou noodle shop. For authentic texture and hometown flavor, traditional technique is everything. Whether you know them as everyday 馄饨 (húntún), Sichuan 抄手 (chāoshǒu), or Cantonese-derived wontons, these soup-friendly meat parcels are a hole-in-the-wall mainstay. Unlike 饺子 (jiǎozi) or 水饺 (shuǐjiǎo), aka boiled dumplings, chaoshou are served “wet” in bowls of broth or, in this case, hongyou dressing. Moreover, the delicate, crossed wrappers trap sauce by...