by Aspasia Porozhanova and Julia Mąkosa

Chinese cuisine has long been a key part of the global food scene. However, regional specialties are now gaining wider recognition thanks to social media and culinary globalization. One such dish is Malatang (麻辣烫 málàtàng), a famous street food from Sichuan. Hugely popular in China, where it’s found in nearly every city, Malatang is now making its way internationally and marking its presence abroad. Malatang is a customizable, one-person hotpot dish originating from Sichuan. „麻辣“ (málà) refers to the numbing spice of Sichuan peppercorns and chili, while “ 烫 “ (tàng) refers to something that is scalding hot or boiled, reflecting the dish’s method of preparation. Diners select their own ingredients—ranging from fresh vegetables to meats, tofu, and noodles—which are cooked in a rich, flavorful broth and served hot.

We decided to visit one of the spots in Berlin for Sichuan-style Malatang: Zhangliang Malatang. It is one of the biggest Malatang chains in China, that has been rapidly expanding and recently reached Germany. This franchise not only perfectly represents the globalization of Chinese cuisine, but is also an example of the adaptability of some Chinese dishes to an international environment. Originally founded in 2008 in Harbin, China, Zhangliang Malatang took the traditional Sichuan street food and adapted it to suit the tastes in northern China. The brand has opened nearly 100 brand stores in 53 cities in 19 countries including Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Korea and recently Germany. Today, with over 6,000 locations worldwide, Zhangliang Malatang shares its flavors with diners across the globe. (Zhangliang Malatang 2025). Could it be because more people around the world have shown interest or familiarity with Chinese cuisine? Or is there something else that successfully attracts so much attention and has gained this brand so much popularity?

In the midst of Berlin’s cold and dark winter days, having a spicy Sichuan style soup can bring back the comfort and coziness to fight the winter days off. Once you go looking for a Sichuan-style Malatang place in Berlin, Zhangliang Malatang immediately catches your sight with its vibrant and playful orange colour. Upon entering Zhangliang MalaTang on Friedrichstrasse 217, the first thing that catches your attention is the huge refrigerated wall with all kinds of food. The concept of the restaurant is completely based on the customer experience of creating your own malatang. The first step is taking your own bowl and filling it with the malatang ingredients upon your own preference. Among the vast variety of ingredients, there are sections with cooked and uncooked meat, seafood, eggs, next to them, there are vegetables of all kinds, various mushrooms and seaweed. At Zhangliang MalaTang, most of the food is imported from China, difficult and pricey as it may be, with the exception of vegetables, which are bought from local supermarkets and cooked food, such as meat or tofu, which have been prepared at the restaurant.

Next, you can pick the kind of noodles you prefer, as they range from ramen, udon, spinach to purple sweet potato noodles. At last, you bring your bowl to the counter, you pick your broth and pay for the mala tang.The variety of 5 soup bases (broths) consists of a classic one, spicy mix, tom yam gong, mushroom and tomato. While the tom yam, mushroom and tomato are vegetarian broths, the rest are made with beef broths. Indeed, the classic soup base is the most preferred by the customers and the most authentic, close to Sichuan style malatang, as we have been told. In addition, they have recently begun to offer the stir-fried spicy pot, which if you pick, will be the stir-fried version of the ingredients of your choice. After the malatang is ready, you have all the freedom to make your own sauce in a small saucer with ingredients of your choice and have it with your malatang. There is not only a huge selection of sauces, from sesame sauce, minced garlic, bean curd, oyster sauce, coriander and many more, but they also get refilled very often!

As most of the customers come around lunch time, straight from their offices, those times are very lively, whereas the evenings at the Zhangliang MalaTang are very serene and a perfect time to spend time with family and friends! Could a large, globalized brand truly deliver the warmth and comfort we were craving during the gloomy season? It turned out that this little food trip was a perfect hit. The rich, velvety broth, the comforting warmth of the spices, and the laid-back atmosphere made for exactly the cozy escape we had been looking for. A small but satisfying indulgence—just what we needed to shake off the winter gloom. That is why our advice for cold, lonely, dark winter days is to always have a good Sichuan malatang with people you love!

Reference:

Zhangliang Malatang (2025):  About brand, https://m.zlmlt.com/wapen/about.php

Aspasia Porozhanova and Julia Mąkosa are students in the Master program Global East Asia at Freie Universität Berlin.