Mala soup base 麻辣湯底

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching a course on Chinese history, culture, and business and in the last class, I talked about Chinese cuisine. As I went through the Eight Culinary Traditions and explained the different flavours and textures, I was hit with a serious craving for Sichuan mala spices that demanded to be satisfied. So after class, I promptly visited Asia Market and got the necessary ingredients to make my version of mala tofu hot pot (麻辣豆腐鍋).

Mala tofu hot pot with mung bean sheets

A few friends have asked about my recipes for mala soup base, and while I've given them a recipe that uses more readily available ingredients, I thought it would be a good idea to also share the more complicated recipe as it yields a much more satisfying result.

Ingredients

1. 滷包 (spice pack)
乾辣椒 (dried chilli) 38g
花椒 (Sichuan pepper) 38g
甘草 (liquorice root) 56g
桂皮 (cinnamon stick) 38g
丁香 (clove) 38g
豆蔻 (nutmeg) 38g
三奈 (sand ginger) 38g
陳皮 (orange peel) 19g
八角 (star anise) 19g
桂枝 (cinnamon twig) 19g
草果 (black cardamom) 5 pods
羅漢果 (luo han kuo or monk fruit) 2

2. 辛香料 (wet spices)
薑末 (grated ginger) 600g
蒜頭末 (grated garlic) 600g

3. 調味料 (seasoning)
朝天椒粉 (dried chilli flakes) 305g
川椒粉 (Sichuan pepper powder) 200g
細辣椒粉 (hot chilli powder) 38g
辣豆瓣醬 (spicy bean paste) 600g
黃豆瓣醬 (yellow bean paste) 600g
黑豆瓣醬 (black bean paste) 100g
冰糖 (rock sugar) 38g
米酒 (rice wine) 300ml
雞高湯 (chicken stock) 4.5L

Method

1. In a heavy-bottom pan (preferably a stock pan), heat a bit of oil and fry the dried chilli and Sichuan chilli till fragrant. Remove and set aside.
   取鍋，加入少許油，熱油，將乾辣椒和花椒炒香盛起。
2. In the same pan, add a bit more oil and fry the ginger and garlic till fragrant. Remove and set aside.
   同鍋中，繼續放入少許油，將辛香料爆炒後盛起。
3. In the same pan, add a bit more oil and fry the dried chilli flakes, Sichuan pepper powder, and hot chilli powder. Then add in the various paste and fry for a minute or two until fragrant. When the spices are ready, pour in the chicken stock, sugar, rice wine, the fried spices from steps 1 and 2, and the rest of the ingredients in the spice pack. Mix and stew over low heat for 3-4 hours to make a mala soup base.
   於同鍋中再放入少許油,將朝天椒粉、川椒粉和細辣椒粉拌炒後，加入辣豆拌醬、黃豆拌醬和黑豆拌醬拌炒後，加入高湯、調味料、作法1、2的食材和剩餘的滷包材料以小火慢煮3-4小時後即為麻辣湯底。
4. Pass the soup base through a sieve. The soup base is now ready to be used in a hot pot or stored either in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for a month.

The soup base is intense with incredibly depth of flavour. On the day I made the soup base, I used it to cook a bunch of tofu cubes. Tofu, while bland on its own, is great at absorbing sauces, so when cooked in the soup, it soaked up a lot of the liquid and flavours. I added in some mung bean sheets and an egg, and wolfed down the bowl in no time.

A week later, I used the soup base to stew some beef and cabbage and then I threw in some tiny rice cakes. Like tofu, the rice cakes are good at absorbing liquids and flavours. Delicious.