Mala spice mix is what you get when combining the most electric spice on earth with fragrant Sichuan red chili peppers and ten other aromatic herbs and spices. Mala Spice mix will liven up anything baked, grilled, or sautéed.
While my favorite food is usually some form of sauteed dish (vegan kung pao tofu!) and Jie’s is boiled (hot pot!), when we are in the mood for something quick and easy we whip out mala spice mix and light the grill or fire up the oven.
We then commence to liberally sprinkling mala spice all over our veggies and tofu before searing them to a golden brown.
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What is Mala Spice
The Origin of Málà (麻辣)
You might be asking what is this “mala” that we keep talking about? Málà (麻辣) is a flavor unique to Sichuan Province and part of the reason the capital of Sichuan, Chengdu, is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. Sichuan actually borders Jie’s home province of Gansu.
“Ma” translates to numbing and “la” translates to spicy. Sichuan chili peppers produce the spicy sensation while the Sichuan peppercorns provide the pleasantly numbing sensation that makes the lips feel like they are vibrating and tingling (ma 麻). The spicy and numbing flavors together are called málà (麻辣) and provide an addicting combination of flavors.
You can check out our article on Sichuan numbing peppercorns to learn more about this potent spice.
Mala Spice Mix
Mala spice mix is a mix of spices we created by combining Sichuan numbing peppercorns with Sichuan dried red chili flakes, along with several other bold flavors (such as cumin).
There are a couple of companies selling spice mixes that are labeled mala spice mix or spiced chili powder, but we prefer to make our own so we can control the amount of salt we add. In our opinion, many of the mixes on the market are either too salty or too sweet, or don’t add enough Sichuan numbing pepper (we can’t get enough!!!).
How to Use Mala Spice Powder
Mala spice mix is perfect for jazzing up oven roasted vegetables (potatoes, cauliflower, etc.) or grilled steaks, chicken, and tofu. Just sprinkle it on right before grilling or roasting.
We like to thinly slice vegetables and cook them on an electric griddle in the middle of our dining room table. We liberally sprinkle them with mala spice mix while cooking and dip them in more right before eating.
When cooking hot pot, mala spice mix can be used to dip food in right before eating.
Ingredients
- Red Sichuan chili pepper flakes - Sichuan red chili peppers have more depth of flavor and provide medium heat as opposed to cayenne pepper (don’t substitute cayenne pepper). You can also use Korean chili pepper flakes. These can be found at your local Chinese or Korean market, on Amazon, and online at The Mala Market. Freshly ground spices are always more flavorful than ones that have been previously ground and sitting on the shelf for a long period of time. We buy our Sichuan red pepper flakes from The Mala Market because they grind them fresh at their facility in Nashville, TN. If you are interested in grinding your own red pepper flakes let us know and we will post a how-to article.
- Ground Sichuan peppercorns - Check out our popular article on Sichuan peppercorns to learn where to buy them and how to grind them.
- Roasted sesame seeds – If you cannot buy already roasted sesame seeds you can roast them on the stovetop at low heat until they are lightly brown. Let them cool before grinding. Let us know if the comments if you’d like to see a post of roasting sesame seeds. You can also substitute roasted soy nuts or fried peanuts.
- Ground cumin – We used ground cumin, but you can also use whole cumin seeds. We often sprinkle whole cumin seeds on our veggies and tofu before baking or grilling.
- Salt
- Chinese five-spice – Check out our five-spice recipe to learn how to make it yourself or to learn where to buy it. Our five-spice recipe uses Chinese cinnamon, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and cloves – flavor powerhouses!
- Mushroom powder (optional) – We use mushroom powder to give our mala spice mix a deeper umami (xian) flavor. Previously we did not add this but got the idea from Fly by Jing’s mala spice mix. Mushroom powder is completely optional but if you want to add it you can find it on Amazon. We used Porcini mushroom powder, although you could also use Shiitake.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add all mala spice mix ingredients to a spice grinder or small blender. We prefer to use our personal size blender because it is more powerful than a spice grinder and creates a finer powder.
Grind or blend for approximately 30 seconds or until your desired grind is achieved. If using whole cumin you may need to grind a bit longer.
Substitutions and Variations
Roasted soy nuts and fried peanuts make great additions to mala spice mix. Try substituting either of these for roasted sesame seeds or pick the two you like best and add both. You can check out our posts on how to roast soy nuts and how to make Chinese spicy fried peanuts.
Feel free to play around with this recipe and find the proportions that fit your taste. We like to increase the amount of Sichuan peppercorns in the mix, but some may find the numbing sensation too intense if using high quality Sichuan peppercorns from The Mala Market (no relation to us).
Depending on what we are cooking we may also increase the proportion of cumin – especially if grilling skewers!
Storage
Store your mala spice mix in an airtight container. According to experts on Healthline, ground spices have a shelf life of 2-3 years.
PLEASE, do not keep ground mala spice mix for 2-3 years. After grinding, spices quickly begin to lose flavor.
We recommend keeping mala spice mix no more than 2 months to ensure it retains maximum flavor. The great thing about creating your own mala spice mix is that you can make just enough to use within the next few days.
📖 Recipe
Mala Spice Mix: Combining the Most Fragrant Spices on the Planet
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons Sichuan dried red chili pepper flakes 20 grams (see post above for details on where to buy them)
- 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns approximately 1 tablespoon whole / 2 grams. Check out our article on Sichuan peppercorns to learn where to buy them and how to grind them. (you can increase up to 1 tablespoon depending on the freshness of your Sichuan pepper)
- 1 teaspoon whole sesame seeds 4 grams
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin 7 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt 6 grams
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder 2 grams
- 1 teaspoon mushroom powder (optional) 2 grams
Instructions
- Add all mala spice mix ingredients to a spice grinder or small blender. We prefer to use our personal size blender because it is more powerful than a spice grinder and creates a finer powder.
- Grind or blend for approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until your desired grind is achieved.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition disclaimer
malaeats.com is created for informational purposes only. Although we do our best to provide nutritional information to our readers as a general guideline, we are not certified nutritionists and the nutritional values provided should be considered estimates. Numerous factors such as variations in fresh ingredients, brands purchased, etc. will alter the nutritional values in any recipe. Different online calculators also provide different results depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, please use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities you used.
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods (less than 2 hours is recommended by the CDC).
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
See more guidelines at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention website.
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