A packet of spicy hotpot seasoning printed in both Chinese and Burmese attracted attention at the 5th Lancang-Mekong Business Forum held in early July in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.To get more news about spicy chinese food, you can visit shine news official website.
The raw materials for the spice were imported from southwest China's Chongqing municipality and processed in Myanmar's Yangon to suit the tastes of the Myanmar people.
"Spicy Chinese food started appearing in Myanmar 10 years ago," said Sean Yann, 37, a Chinese-Myanmar manufacturer of the spicy hotpot seasoning, in fluent Mandarin.
Yann said spicy Chinese hotpot was introduced to high-end restaurants in Myanmar after spicy mixed vegetables sold by Chinese people became popular locally.
In recent years, Chinese food with a spicy and pungent flavour, known as "mala", has been gaining ground in Southeast Asia.
This trend was confirmed by Li Jing, a young man from Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province, who studied Burmese at Rangoon Foreign Language University three years ago. He said Chinese hot pot was very popular in Yangon, with many shops on the main streets selling malatang (food cooked in hot spicy soup) and spicy hot pot.
"Many Myanmar people can say 'hot pot', 'mala' and other Chinese words, which are also indispensable topics in our conversations with Myanmar friends," Li said.
As Myanmar consumers' love for the "mala" flavour continues to grow, Yann's company is working with local supermarkets to introduce its spicy hot pot flavour.
Although the products cost 1.5 times as much as local ones, they still sell 20,000 to 30,000 packs a month. Yann said a dozen similar spicy products from other brands are also selling well in local supermarkets.
According to data from Chinese e-commerce platforms Meituan and Dianping earlier this year, online searches for mala and hot pot in Thailand had increased by 700 per cent year-on-year. In the popular holiday destinations of Bangkok and Phuket, more mala barbecue and hot pot restaurants have sprung up.
Zhuo Bingyue, who runs a Thai restaurant in Nanning, said that compared with spicy Thai food, the "mala" flavour in Chinese food is more complex and rich, a feature that appeals to young Thais.
Driven by programmes such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the scope of cooperation between China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been expanding, with no obstacles to trade and logistics. Foods with Chinese flavours, such as mala, are entering Southeast Asia in more diverse and efficient ways.
At the Yulin International Spice Trading Market in Yulin, Guangxi, an endless stream of trucks carrying spices such as star anise and cinnamon can be seen. The annual trade volume of spices in Yulin is about 800,000 tonnes, and the related industry chain employs more than 100,000 people.Seizing the opportunity of RCEP implementation, Yulin has continuously expanded its trade with ASEAN countries in the field of spices, exporting more Chinese spices to Southeast Asia to satisfy the taste buds of local people.
At the 5th Lancang-Mekong Business Forum, more than 100 industry representatives from Lancang-Mekong Cooperation countries, including China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, discussed cooperation opportunities in the agricultural and food processing industries.
