🍲 Recipe · classic
Sichuan Mala Hot Pot at Home 四川麻辣火锅
Aromatic, numbing-spicy — the most popular hot pot style worldwide
Sichuan mala hot pot is the style most people encounter first at restaurants. This recipe produces a deeply aromatic, numbing-spicy broth using a quality store-bought base — then layers in fresh aromatics and Sichuan pepper for the full restaurant experience at home.
Broth Ingredients
- 1 packet premium Sichuan mala hot pot base (海底捞 or quality brand with beef tallow)
- 1.5 L unsalted pork or chicken bone broth (or water)
- 2 cm ginger, sliced
- 2 tbsp Sichuan pepper (花椒) — add extra for more Ma
- 1 tbsp extra Pi Xian doubanjiang (optional — deepens colour)
- 1 tsp rock sugar
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame paste, thinned with warm water
- 1 tbsp sha cha sauce
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp black vinegar
- 1 tsp chili oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp scallion
At-Table Ingredients
Proteins
- 250g thinly sliced beef ribeye
- 200g maodu (beef tripe), pre-cleaned
- 100g beef meatballs
- 100g shrimp paste balls (虾滑)
Vegetables & Tofu
- 150g frozen tofu, thawed and cut
- 100g lotus root, sliced thin
- 100g enoki mushrooms
- 100g napa cabbage
- 80g spinach
Noodles
- 100g sweet potato noodles, soaked 30 min
Instructions
1
Build the broth
Dissolve the hot pot base packet in bone broth or water over medium heat. Add ginger and extra Sichuan pepper. If using extra doubanjiang, fry it in 1 tsp oil for 2 min before adding. Bring to a rolling boil, then simmer 10 min. Add rock sugar. Taste and adjust.
2
Set up dipping sauce station
Mix sesame paste with warm water until smooth. Add all remaining sauce ingredients in order. Each person can customize their bowl. Set out individual bowls of raw garlic, scallion and chili oil for further customization.
3
Cook slow items first
Add lotus root (5–7 min) and meatballs (3–5 min). These can go in before the pot reaches full boil.
4
Maodu: the star of Sichuan hot pot
Using long chopsticks, dip maodu 7 times in, 8 times out (七上八下), each dip about 1 second. 10–12 seconds total. Eat immediately — it should snap when bitten. This is the skill that separates a great Sichuan hot pot from a mediocre one.
5
Continue cooking remaining ingredients
Beef slices: 10–20 seconds. Shrimp paste balls: 3–5 min until cooked through and floating. Tofu: 3–4 min. Vegetables: 30 seconds to 2 min depending on type. Noodles last.
⚠️ Food Safety
Maodu: USDA 160°F/72°C for beef offal — reached in 10–12 seconds at rolling boil
Keep the broth at a vigorous rolling boil for all animal proteins — not a gentle simmer
💡 Tips
- Extra Sichuan pepper significantly boosts the Ma (numbing) sensation — add whole peppercorns and fish them out after 10 min of simmering, or leave them in for maximum effect
- A quality sesame paste dipping sauce is essential — it cools and counterbalances the fierce mala broth
- The broth intensifies as the meal progresses — add bone broth (not plain water) to replenish