Málà Project

The word “mala” is an efficient coupling of the Chinese characters for “numbing” and “spicy,” traits synonymous with Sichuanese cooking. Capable of clearing the most insidious of blocked sinuses, food cooked with mala can also bring stoics to tears. Such is the enduring power of mala that it has, of late, been transubstantiated from its renowned liquid form—hot pot, a bubbly soup—to its newer, hipper cousin, the dry pot.