Chinese Fast Food Chain: Erlang Malatang

Once there was an old malatang store downstairs of my home in Shanghai. Nobody knows the real name of it. There was only an Erlang God’s statue placed in the store. Old customers started to call it as Erlang Malatang over time. Even it has closed for years. The taste and memory is still fresh to me. 

Malatang is a common type of Chinese street food. It originated in Sichuan.

Typically a table with a big and flat saucepan is set up on the street, with a large number of ingredients in skewers being cooked in a spicy or non-spicy broth. Customers could select the skewers from shelves and put them into their own basket. After the selection is done, bring the basket to the checkout place for pricing. Later, the basket of skewers will be sent to the cook for cooking.