A trip to Boston last winter opened my eyes to soup. It was a windy, frigid night with several inches of snow on the ground. We were hungry and wanted something to warm up. We found a sushi and ramen restaurant the was packed, and had a 45 minute wait – so you know it had to be good. Luckily we were able to grab two seats at the bar and order from the full menu. The first thing I noticed on the menu was Mala soup, a spicy but flavorful broth with veggies and chicken thrown in. I’ve never had such good broth in my life, so I made it my mission to recreate it. I found a few recipes but most of them used hard-to-find ingredients, so I improvised using the #1 hot sauce in the world – Sriracha. Several recipes also called for peanut oil – which sparked another idea. If you like spicy foods, you have to make this. It’s a wonderfully satisfying soup.
