China's 'mala' sauce breaks Korea's culinary boundaries
Malatang at a Tanghuo Kungfu restaurant in Seoul / Screen capture from Tanghuo Kungfu's website
From traditional soups to takeout toast, numbing spice pop up in unexpected dishes
"Mala" is enchanting Korean palates across the domestic food industry.
The tongue-numbingly spicy seasoning that is a traditional favorite in China's Sichuan province has become a popular ingredient for dishes beyond just Chinese cuisine, spreading to Korean and Western dishes in both the dine-in and takeout scenes.
Since its introduction to Korea in the early 2010s, the popularity of mala among Korean consumers began to grow more widespread in 2018, and has been on a consistent rise since. At Google Trends, online searches for “malatang" (mala-based hot pot) this month jumped 350 percent from 2022, while "mala rosé" (mala and creamy tomato sauce) jumped 250 percent during the same period.
Korean's frenzy over mala has been evident in the country's dine-in landscape as well. Tanghuo Kungfu, the largest Korean malatang franchise, posted sales of 25.5 billion won ($19 million) last year, nearly tripling from 2022. Chunli Malatang enjoyed a sales increase of 134 percent from 2023, while Lahongbang saw a 32 percent rise from the previous year.
This year, McDonald’s Korea, Binggrae, Otoki, Orion, Dining Brands Group, Goraesa and Lahongbang were among major food companies here that have released new mala-based products. At least eight items have been released this year, more than double the number from last year.
HDN Food's Mala Gukbap at Yuksudang / Courtesy of HDN Food
Hanchon, a "gukbap" (soup with rice) restaurant chain, said consumer interest in mala has continued to trend upward even after a period of explosive growth, suggesting that mala is not merely a passing fad but has become a mainstream part of everyday dining.
“The Ministry of Data and Statistics’ decision (in July) to add ‘malatang’ to its official categories for its consumer price index underscores mala’s emergence as a routine household expense,” the company said.
HDN Food, which operates Yuksudang's 85 locations nationwide, recently launched Mala Gukbap. The new menu item softens mala’s intense aroma while balancing its spicy flavor with the richness of beef bone broth.
Yuksudang said it spent three months developing the mala sauce in-house. Because commercial sauces with high spice content can overwhelm the flavors of other ingredients, 30 employees evaluated samples in restaurant-like conditions, testing them with rice and sliced blood sausage, a popular gukbap ingredient.
To make the restaurants’ operations easier, Mala Gukbap’s recipe has been designed to maximize the usage of existing ingredients, such as broth, beef belly, pork shoulder, blood sausage and green onions. The only new ingredients the dish requires are dried tofu skin, the company's proprietary mala sauce, crushed pepper and Sichuan pepper oil, minimizing inventory and supply-ordering burdens.
Chef Lee Moon-jung with her Mala Cream Shrimp Toast for MGC Mega Coffee / Courtesy of MGC Mega Coffee
Low-budget coffee brand Mega MGC Coffee collaborated with chef Lee Moon-jung to launch Mala Cream Shrimp Toast. Created as part of a promotional campaign by delivery platform Coupang Eats, it combines a shrimp patty and sweet mala cream sauce on top of a piece of brioche toast. The item was created as part of the platform’s campaign pairing chefs with local brands for special menu launches.
Dining Brands Group’s Outback Steakhouse launched Mala Toowoomba Pasta in June, adding mala’s numbing heat to the chain’s signature pasta. Particularly popular among customers in their 20s and 30s, it was originally offered in June as a weekday-only menu for a limited three-week run. Outback sold 7,000 servings, boosting overall sales 77 percent throughout the period. The company made the item a regular menu offering the following month.
In July, fried chicken franchise 60Chicken launched Chamji Mala Chicken, featuring fried chicken coated with an house-made mala sauce. Customers can add mala oil to adjust the intensity, making it accessible to newcomers and enthusiasts alike.
“Mala has moved beyond being a novelty flavor to become a mainstream choice among consumers in their 20s and 30s, prompting businesses across the food industry to incorporate it into their signature offerings,” an official from Hanchon said. “Given younger consumers’ consistent appetite for mala flavors, launches of related menu items will likely continue for a while.”