Hunan cuisine, sometimes called Xiang cuisine, consists of the cuisines of the Xiangjiang region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan province (mountain area) in China.
Hunan cuisine is difficult to characterise precisely, as it has absorbed stylistic elements from all over China. For this reason, the region is sometimes regarded as China’s culinary centre. The cooking skills employed in Hunan cuisine reached a high standard as early as the Western Han dynasty, giving it a history of more than 2,100 years. Common cooking techniques include stewing, frying, pot-roasting, braising and smoking.
While similar to Sichuan (Szechuan) cuisine, Hunan cuisine is often spicier and contains a larger variety of ingredients. Something else which distinguishes Hunan cuisine from Sichuan cuisine is that, in general, Hunan cuisine uses smoked and cured food in its dishes much more frequent than in Sichuan cuisine. The dishes are often more oily, and look darker than Sichuan dishes. Hunan is known for its liberal use of chilli peppers, shallots and garlic. Many Hunan dishes are characterised by a strongly flavoured brown sauce. Some rely on sweetness from ingredients such as honey; sweet and sour sauces are also characteristic of the style.
Hunan is located in southeastern China along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, north of the Five Ridges. It contains rivers, lakes, mountains, rolling hills, plains and pools, which provide abundant delicacies such as game, fish, shrimp, crab and turtle. Making full use of these rich resources, local people created a wide variety of delicacies. Hunan cuisine consists of more than 4,000 dishes, among which more than 300 are very famous. Even Chairman Mao, together with other leaders, praised the Hunan cuisine in 1958. Hunan food is hot because the air is very humid, which makes it difficult for the human body to eliminate moisture. The local people eat hot peppers to help remove dampness and cold.
Main Dishes
Stewed Shark Fins in Chicken Soup (Zu’an Yuchi, 组庵鱼翅)
This is a famous and traditional Hunan dish of the Zu’an family (feudal court cuisine). It was created by Cao Jingchen, the household chef of the warlord Tan Yan during the Qing Dynasty, and gradually it became popular amongst folk as a common dish served at important feasts. The cooking method is as follows. 2 kilograms of shark fins are wrapped with thin ribbons and placed onto a bamboo grid along with pork joint, diced shallots and ginger, which is laid inside an earthen bowl. Shredded chicken, shell soup, Shaoxing wine, fine salt and light soup are poured into the bowl and covered with a lid. The mixture in the bowl is steamed over a moderate fire for about four hours. Then, the shark fins are taken out, placed on a tray and finally covered with chicken oil, monosodium glutamate and mixed with the original soup for guests to enjoy. The shark fins cooked in this way are soft and glutinous, crispy, flavoursome and delicious.
Stir-fried Pickled Streaky Pork with Green Garlic Sprouts (Xiang Xi Suanrou, 湘西酸肉)
This is a local and traditional dish of the Miao and Tujia ethnic minority groups in western Hunan. It is spicy and slightly sour. The people in the autonomous region of western Hunan are adept at cooking this dish bringing forth its Chinese name. The cooking method is as follows. Pork fat with skin is scraped and washed, cut into blocks weighing about 100 grams, and marinated with fine salt and pepper powder for five hours. Then, corn powder is added to the mixture before being sealed in an earthen jar and left to pickle for 15 days. When the time has elapsed, the pork is sliced and stir-fried with green garlic sprouts and red chilli. After, corn powder and light soup are added and the dish is braised until cooked.
Assorted Dish with Seven Delicacies (Baota Xiangyao, 宝塔香腰)
It is also nicknamed as “Yulin Xiangyao”(“玉麟香腰”), or “Seven Floors”(Qiceng Lou, “七层楼”). Seven different dishes are placed in a big bowl layer by layer and constitute a unique pattern resembling a tower. It is a famous and traditional Hengyang dish. The first layer in the bowl is deep-fried sliced taro; the second, steamed streaky pork; the third, deep-fried water chestnuts; the fourth, deep-fried pork; the fifth, steamed chicken rolls filled with minced pork; the sixth, olive-shaped fish meat balls; and finally the seventh, layered with stir-fried pork kidney.
Stir-fried Sliced Chicken, Dong’an Style (Dong’an Ziji, 东安子鸡)
This dish is also nicknamed as “Vinegar Chicken” (Cu Ji, 醋鸡). It originated from Dong’an district, Hunan, upon which people name this dish. A tender hen is butchered and washed, boiled until well-done and then taken out. The head, neck, claws and bones are removed and the leftover is sliced into strips of 5cm x 1cm. After being fried in cooked pork fat, the slices are stir-fried for two more minutes with yellow vinegar, Shaoxing wine, fine salt, pepper powder and light broth with minced meat. Then, chopped shallots, monosodium glutamate, starch and cooked sesame oil are poured onto the stir-fried chicken slices. Finally, the dish is placed on to a tray ready for guests to enjoy. The dish is sour, spicy, fresh, tender, light in colour and especially flavoursome.
Quick-fried Shredded Chicken with Red Peppers (Mala Ziji, 麻辣子鸡)
This dish is golden, spicy, hot, delicious and fresh with a typical Hunan local style. Its cooking method is as follows. A fresh hen is butchered and singed and all the bones removed. The leftover chicken is cut into dices of 2cm x 2cm, coated with a sauce made up of Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and wet starch and quick-fried in hot pork fat. Then the sliced chicken is mixed with deep-fried red peppers, peppertree, prickly ash, yellow vinegar, soy sauce, fine salt, monosodium glutamate, green garlic sprouts and starch. Finally, sesame oil is added into the dish to complete the last step.
Steamed Hunan Lotus Seeds with Crystal Sugar (Bingtang Xianglian, 冰糖湘莲)
To make this dish, white lotus seeds are soaked, steamed until mashed, dehydrated and loaded into a big bowl. Then green beans, cherries, peeled longan and diced pineapple are braised with crystal sugar water. The white lotus seeds will float on the surface of the light soup creating an aromatic and sweet, rich, nutritional and extremely flavoursome dish.
Steamed Pickled Pork, Chicken and Fish (Lawei Hezheng, 腊味合蒸)
Hunan dishes are famous for the application of pickled meat, such as pickled pork, beef, chicken, fish and wild duck. To make this dish, pickled pork, chicken and fish are steamed until cooked. The skin, bones and scales are removed and the leftover is sliced. The meat is then placed into a big bowl with the skin facing downwards and steamed with cooked pork fat, white sugar, monosodium glutamate and light broth. Finally, the cooked meat is loaded on to a big soup tray. The finished dish is dark red, moderately salty and sweet with a strong aroma of pickled meat. It is one of Hunan’s famous traditional dishes.
Braised Fish Heads with Minced Hot Pepper Sauce (Duojiao Yutou, 剁椒鱼头)
This is widely popular in Hunan and people can enjoy it in almost every kind of restaurant and hotel. The fish heads are fresh and the minced pepper sauce is spicy and hot. The dish has a unique flavour.
It is a famous Xiangtan local dish. To make this dish, fish heads are washed separately, the cheeks are removed and the leftover is placed inside a steamer. Once cooked the fish heads are coated with minced hot pepper sauce and served. In particular, the cooking oil applied must be tea oil.
Food Street
The heart of Hunan cuisine, Changsha offers classic, new and varied types of Hunan food. The city has become famous for the food that is served here.
Shuguang Road Food Street
Located in the political and economic centre of old Changsha, Shuguang Road is in the Furong District. It started to attract catering businesses from 1998 and you can now find typical Hunan dishes in places such as Qinglian Restaurant, Daronghe, Rongtai and Dafenghe, as well as Xuji Seafood Restaurant. Decent prices and good quality food all ensure customers return here again and again.
Braised Food Street
This has a prime location in Changsha station and food is served in earthen bowls, braising is the main cooking method, fuel for cooking is lotus root coal and the spices used are typical of Hunan cuisine. Fresh pepper, Chaling garlic and Liuyang lobster sauce are commonly used. In the restaurants, you will see earthen bowls displaying braised aubergine, green pepper, chops, pumpkin, chicken, fish (which has been baked before being braised), duck, mutton and lots more besides. Each table sits between three and five people and you can sample the local Changsha iced beer. The atmosphere is good here, augmented no doubt by the reasonable prices.
Snacks
Drinks
Taoyuanlei Tea (桃园擂茶)
The northwestern city of Taohuayuan is a popular Chinese tourist resort, as well as a famous production base for the local speciality, Taoyuanlei Tea. It is made of rice, ginger and tea leaves, which delivers a dry, sweet, spicy and tasty flavour. Tea is best suited with snacks like crisps, soybeans, nuts and stick rice, etc.
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