Introducing mala xiangguo (麻辣香锅) – the fragrant mala pot. This was one of the dishes I missed most from the time living in China. I used to go to a small restaurant near by my university campus that specialised in mala xiangguo. The list of ingredients you could choose from was very extensive, and the level of ma (the numbing sensation present in sichuan peppar) and la (the spiciness from chillies) could be adjusted from 1 to 5. Since many of my friends were Japanese and were not used to spicy food we would choose level 1, but it was still too spicy for most. In China when they say something is spicy they always mean it 😀 Anyhow, for longest of times I thought that I had to go back to China to enjoy this dish, but it turned out that it’s completely possible to recreate it at home with some few ingredients from the Asian market. Here is one of the times I made my own version of mala xiangguo at home. It’s definitely one of my go to dishes!