Mala sauce oily, and the tastes more complex. Common sauces include sesame oil with garlic, oyster oil, or doufu ru. The sauce is used in a variety of ways, from stir-fry, stews, and soup, to being used in hot pot or as a dipping sauce. In the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces mala powder (麻辣粉; pinyin: málàfĕn) is used on snacks and street foods, such as stinky tofu, fried potatoes, and barbecued meat and vegetables. The sauce is made primarily of dried chili peppers, chili powder, douban paste, Sichuan peppercorns, clove, garlic, star anise, black cardamom, fennel, ginger, cinnamon, salt and sugar. These
Chili powder may vary from mild to very hot. Hot varieties are called "cheongyang-gochugaru", since they are made from hotter cheongyang chili peppers rather than regular Korean reds. Chili powder blends are composed chiefly of chili peppers and blended with other spices including cumin, onion, garlic powder, and sometimes salt. The chilis are most commonly either red chili peppers or cayenne peppers, which are both of the species "Capsicum annuum". As a result of the various potential additives, the spiciness of any given chili powder is variable. The first commercial blends of chili powder in the U.S. were created by D.C. Pendery