Zhang Liang Mala Tang (张亮麻辣烫) is a global fast-food chain originating from Harbin, China, specialising in customisable Sichuan-style spicy hot pot with over 6,000 locations worldwide. It has an outlet in the basement of West Mall (Bukit Batok). Customers self-serve by picking their own meats, vegetables, noodles, which are priced by weight (minimum 300g) and cooked in their signature rich, daily-brewed broths.
After picking the fresh ingredients, proceed to the counter to select a flavour-base before making payment. They have total of 10 flavours! Aside from typical dry-style mala hotpot (Spicy Dry Pot) and mala tang (Classic Spicy Bone Broth), there are flavours of rich tomato, fresh mushroom, tom yum, stir-fried garlic, Tianshui malaban, beef tallow maocai, sour & spicy, and savoury dry mix malaban — nearly half of them are unheard of.
The Sichuan-style, soupy Beef Tallow Maocai (蜀香牛油冒菜) features a fiery-red mala broth made using beef tallow (fat), chilli, Sichuan peppercorns, etc — similar to mala flavour added with beef fat. It has a smooth mala aroma with rich flavours, medium spiciness and numbness — for more spiciness or extra tastes, concoct your own dipping sauce, otherwise, don’t spoil the original flavour. The beef tallow allows the mala flavours from the soup to cling better to all the ingredients.
The dry-style Stir-Fry Garlic (蒜香清炒/干) is a non-spicy option where all selected ingredients are lightly stir-fried with garlic bits, scallions and garnished with coriander, crunchy peanuts and roasted sesame seeds. Unlike other dishes with heavier flavours, this dish has really light flavours and carries a nice garlicky aroma when served — and concoct your own dipping sauce.
We skipped the typical dry-style, stir-fried mala hotpot and tried two of less-common flavours. The next visit to Zhang Liang will be for their mala hotpot with spiciness and numbness or either of the two “malaban (麻辣伴)” flavours.
Address:
West Mall, #B1-21
1 Bukit Batok Central, Singapore 658713
Opening Hours:
10:30am to 11:30pm | Daily
Nearby:
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