Hot Eastern

[mindstalk]

I wandered into Chinatown for dinner, and decided to be adventurous and try a basement restaurant under Avana Sushi. At first I noticed $20 special entrees, then some more like $12 ones. Then a menu of cheap BBQ or something like hot pot, mala tang. I ended up getting beef mala bang, a spicy soup with lots of 'exotic' vegetables -- lotus root and some sort of fungus and whatnot. It was pretty tasty. Medium spice had me blowing my nose a lot but not in sense-obliterating pain. Would return. Also there's an $8.50 lunch -- though there's a $5 lunch nearby. :O

The alcove to the bathrooms had a lot of poster art. Mostly obviously Chinese -- martial arts movie, something looking Maoist, others. But also one of Astro Boy, and another of Card Captor Sakura. Nice to see Sakura in a random place, and it sure did feel random.

I wondered about the owners. 'mala tang' and 'mala bang' sound like Indonesian names to me. I saw 'Shohoku', likely Japanese, on something. Also saw a poster of German beers.

There were also multiple frog-based dishes. I was not feeling that adventurous.

Comments

[thomasyan]

Don't know about "bang", but "mala tang" sounds like "numbingly-spicy soup" in Mandarin. ("ma" is used for numbness and also the sensation of pins and needles; "la" means spicy hot; "tang" is soup). Usually that spiciness comes from Szechuan peppercorns.

It makes me wonder if "bang" is a typo for "tang", but "b" and "t" are not close together on a keyboard. I also don't think they are a bit-flip away in ASCII, either. I guess if someone was copying from handwriting or smudged type, "b" and "t" could look similar.

[mindstalk]

Is that the same 'ma' as in ma po tofu, which was devastatingly hot in Fate/stay night and I think pretty tingly when I tried it?

Mala bang and mala tang were separate items on the menu. Mala tang was apparently like hot pot, where you order small dishes of things to be cooked in broth, while mala bang were complex soups on the menu, and I think my waitress said they were more vinegary and more flavorful.

[thomasyan]

Interestingly, I think the "ma" in mapo tofu means something else, although it usually is also made with Szechuan peppercorn, and thus has the same numbing spiciness of "mala". I didn't remember what it did refer to, but if Wikipedia is to be trusted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapo_doufu#Etymology

I have not heard of mala bang before. Googling was not helpful [ETA]etymology-wise[/ETA].

(It doesn't seem to be related to "bang bang chicken", which smashes cooked chicken with a rolling pin before shredding it, where "bang bang" is pronounced more like "bong bong".)

[mindstalk]

Here's their menu https://www.grubhub.com/restaurant/hot-eastern-42-beach-st-boston/546068?affiliate=1073&utm_source=facebook-affiliate-network&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1073&utm_content=546068&instant_experiences_enabled=true

so you can see I'm not misremembering. :)

[mindstalk]

Some reviews mention 'mala ban' and https://www.grubhub.com/restaurant/auntie-guans-kitchen-219-e-23rd-street-new-york/313971 has a "mala ban malatang".

Searching on 'mala bang' mostly just finds Hot Eastern or other Boston restaurants.

[thomasyan]

Ah! With that clue, I found http://eatbook.sg/old-chengdu/

It said, "We also tried their Mala Ban (mix)". And I do recognize "ban" as Mandarin for "mix" (used as both verb and I guess sometimes adjective)! I think often it gets translated as "salad", but I don't remember if there is a(n implied?) connotation of a sour component. I think some "ban" are sour, but don't think all are, but wouldn't swear to that.