麻辣烫 (málàtàng) · malatang, numbing-spicy street hotpot

Measure Word

一份麻辣烫 fèn

Meanings

1 malatang
2 numbing-spicy street hotpot

Made with

花椒 huājiāo 干辣椒 gānlàjiāo 豆腐 dòufu 粉条 fěntiáo 芝麻酱 zhīmajiàng

About the dish

川菜 Sichuan · 小吃 Snack

You pick vegetables, tofu, noodles and meatballs from a fridge into a bowl; it is weighed, priced and boiled in a numbing, spicy broth. Northern shops often add sesame paste. Most let you ask for mild (微辣) or not spicy (不辣).

Usually contains sesame and soy

Characters

麻

má

numbing (from Sichuan peppercorn)

scalding; to blanch in hot water

Examples

HSK 2

楼下新开了一家麻辣烫。

Lóuxià xīnkāi le yì jiā málàtàng.

A new malatang place opened downstairs.

HSK 4

我点了一份麻辣烫，不要太辣。

Wǒ diǎn le yí fèn málàtàng, búyào tài là.

I ordered a malatang, not too spicy please.

Tips

culture

Originating with Yangtze River boatmen in Sichuan, 麻辣烫 evolved into China's most ubiquitous cheap street food. You pick raw skewers (veg, tofu, meat) from a fridge and the shop boils them in a numbing-spicy broth. 杨国福 and 张亮 are the two dominant chains.