Feature: Spicy Chinese mala cuisines booming in Myanmar

YANGON, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Spicy, mouth-numbing Chinese foods or foods with mala flavor are the latest Chinese food crazes hitting Myanmar, local restaurateurs said.

Nay Yi Win, a restaurant owner in her 20s, said that the number of mala food consumers in Myanmar is increasing in the commercial city of Yangon as well as elsewhere Myanmar in recent years.

Mala, the famous Chinese sauce or seasoning, is made from Sichuan peppercorn, chili, herbs and spices. Stir-fried Mala Xiang Guo, stew-like Mala Mao Cai, soup-like Malatang, Mala skewers and Mala grilled fish are trending in Yangon and elsewhere in Myanmar, restaurant owners said.

"I opened the mala restaurant about eight months ago as I see an increasing number of people are consuming mala foods," Nay Yi said, adding that her restaurant is mainly offering Mala Xiang Guo and Mala Mao Cai to customers.

Nearly 100 customers, mostly non-Chinese people, come and eat mala foods at her restaurant in Yangon daily, she said, adding that most of her customers are females.

Many mala foods restaurants have emerged in numerous parts of Yangon over the last one or two years, local restaurant owners said. Many Chinese foods such as Chinese steamed buns and pork skewers have already gained ground in Myanmar since many years ago.

"All the mala restaurants here have customers," Nan Nwe Oo, owner of Nan Ni Mala skewer restaurant in Yangon's Chinatown, told Xinhua. The restaurant also has branches in other parts of Yangon, she said.

Restaurants and street foods stalls selling Chinese mala dishes have mushroomed in the last two years, reaching over 20 just in Yangon's Chinatown, local residents said.

Most of the existing Chinese restaurants in the Southeast Asian country were also updating their menus with mala foods, while some shopping centers and stores were selling ready-made mala foods, restaurateurs said.

"We started selling mala dishes in our food station a few months ago," a staff member from Arr Mei Food Station, which is selling Shan foods, Chinese foods and Thai foods in Yangon's Chinatown, told Xinhua.

With the number of local customers consuming mala dishes increasing over time, some restaurants in the street have opened branches elsewhere in Yangon and Taunggyi, restaurant owners said.

Phyu Phyu Khin, 31-year-old resident in Yangon, said "I ate Mala Xiang Guo for the first time two years ago. I have eaten it nearly every month with my friends and fellow co-workers since then."

"I like the spicy and salty taste of Mala Xiang Guo," she said. Mala Xiang Guo contains meat and vegetables like chicken, pork, beef, bamboo and tofu skin and is prepared by stir frying.

Phyu said that Mala Xiang Guo is more suitable to eat with friends, families or others as even a small serving of it can be eaten by two people.

"It is not expensive if it is shared with others. Therefore, most people can often eat it despite the food price hike," she said, adding that she and her friends mostly choose to eat it when they hang out.

A small serving of Mala Xiang Guo costs about 6,000 kyats (about 2.8 U.S. dollars) and a large serving is about 8,000 kyats (about 3.8 dollars), but the prices can vary depending on the ingredients and the condition of the restaurants, she said.

Phyu said that she sometimes ordered Mala Xiang Guo online and ate it at home or in her office. It is trendy. Even some celebrities are taking up mala challenges on social media, she said.

"It is a sign that Chinese foods are spreading among the people of Myanmar," a local resident said.