Spicy stir-fry hot pot (Ma la xiang guo)

Ma la xiang guo is a Sichuan spicy numbing stir-fry pot, consisting of blanched meat and vegetables stir-fried with an aromatic chilli bean paste. Incredibly versatile, try using a range of seasonal meat and vegetables from the fridge that you need to use up.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
• 50 g chilli bean paste (doubanjiang)
• 20 g garlic, finely chopped (optional)
• 10 g ginger, finely chopped
• 30 g long red chilli, roughly chopped
• 50 – 90 g chilli crisp oil (see Note)
• Cooked noodles, to serve (optional)
• 50 g light soy sauce
• 50 g Shaoxing wine
• 20 g chicken stock powder
• 60 g caster sugar
• 40 g oyster sauce
• Spice mix, to taste (see Note)
• Coriander leaves, to serve

For the fish marinade

• 240 g Murray cod fillet (skin-on) cut into 1 cm thick slices
• 10 g corn starch
• 5 g salt
• 5 g sugar
• 15 g Shaoxing wine
• 5 g sesame oil

For the spice mix 

• 10 g Murray River pink salt
• 10 g cumin seeds
• 3 g Sichuan peppercorns
• 5 g fennel seeds
• 10 g chilli powder (gochugaru)

For the vegetables 

• 50 g cauliflower florets
• 50 g lotus roots, sliced
• 50 g gai lan (or baby bok choy), roughly chopped
• 30 g enoki mushrooms (or black fungus)
• 50 g fried tofu puffs (or dried yuba knots or sticks)
• 50 g roughly chopped white cabbage (or Chinese wombok)

Instructions

1. For the fish, in a medium bowl combine the sliced fish with the marinade ingredients. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes to marinate.
   
2. For the spice mix, combine the ingredients in a spice grinder under finely ground, keep in an airtight container until needed.
   
3. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then blanch the vegetables for 1 minute, then use a slotted spoon to remove to a large bowl. Blanch the marinated fish fillets for 1 minute, or until the fish has firmed up and curled slightly, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain well. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid in a jug.
   
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or frying pan, then add the chilli bean paste. Stir-fry until the oil turns dark red, then add the garlic (if using), ginger, and chilli. Stir-fry until fragrant, then add the chilli crisp oil. Add the blanched vegetables, fish and noodles (if using) to the pan and stir-fry until heated through. Season to taste with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, chicken stock powder, sugar, oyster sauce and spice mix, adding as much as you like to suit your taste preferences. Add a splash of cooking liquid if the pan is too dry.
   
5. Serve the ma la xiang guo on a sizzling platter, sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve.

Note

• This recipe used lao gan ma chilli crisp oil.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Instant Dinners

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G