The latest culinary that gained popularity in South Korea is a fiery dish from China, the hot pot malatang. Just like the Korean popular street foods yupki tteokbokki or fiery chicken, malatang which is originated in the Southwest Chinese province of Sichuan. It is especially hot because of the main ingredient called "mala". It attracted younger people in South Korea.

The dish malatang is well-known for its unique spiciness that makes the tongue numb just as its Chinese characters indicate, "ma" means numb, and "la" means spicy. The mala sauce, which contains pepper gives the attractively spicy flavor that keeps people coming back for more.

▲ ingredients selecting section

Some Korean mala restaurants changed the original malatang cuisine and indexed to Koreans. Entering there, diners are asked to choose fresh ingredients to add to their hot pot, such as vegetables, seafood balls, tofu, mushrooms, glass noodles, along with their preferred meat which is usually lamb or beef. The chosen ingredients are cooked in two ways, in a malatang way or in a malaxianquo way. They use the same mala sauce, but they have different recipes. Malatang is like a soup, while malaxianquo is like stir-fried. Customers can also choose the level of spiciness. Compared to spicy foods that were trending previously, such as stir-fried rice cakes and fried chicken, which are heavy in carbohydrates, malatang has a healthier nutrients balance, including fresh vegetables and meat.

Moreover, many food companies release foods with mala. There are mala flavored chicken and cup

▲ mala flavored noodles

noodles. We can easily cook and try them in various ways. This trend is hugely influenced by online "mukbang" creators, who make videos featuring food that they are eating and showing they enjoy the food. The videos motivate viewers to try the food, too.

Despite the increasing demand of malatang food, many economists worry that the trend will not last long and that new malatang business owners may not get much profit from their ventures.

November. 10th, 2019

By Lee Ha Jeoung