Hunan cuisine

History

The history of the cooking skills employed in Hunan cuisine dates back to the 17th century. The first mention of chili peppers in local gazettes in the province date to 1684, the 21st year of the Kangxi Emperor. During the course of its history, Hunan cuisine assimilated a variety of local forms, eventually evolving into its own style. Some well-known dishes include fried chicken with Sichuan spicy sauce () and smoked pork with dried long green beans ().

Hunan cuisine consists of three primary styles:

• Xiang River style: Originating from Changsha, Xiangtan and Hengyang. The dishes are quite oily with a attractive colour, and the dishes are spicy, fresh, and have a strong aroma. Dishes include stir-fry chicken with chili, braised meat with black bean sauce and Changsha stinky tofu.
• Dongting Lake style: Originating from Yueyang, Yiyang and Changde. This style is also oily but is also starchy, accompanied with spiciness and saltiness. Stewing is more common in this form of Hunan cuisine, and fish is commonly used too. Notable dishes include Dongting gold tortoise and lotus seedpods with crystal sugar.
• Western Hunan style: Originating from Zhangjiajie, Jishou and Huaihua. Preserved meats and pickled vegetables are more commonly used. The taste is influenced by the ethnic minorities in the region, which results in a sour, spicy, and salty taste. Notable dishes include braised mushrooms and Xiangxi sour meat.

Features

With its liberal use of chili peppers, shallots and garlic, Hunan cuisine is known for being gan la () or purely hot, as opposed to Sichuan cuisine, to which it is often compared. Sichuan cuisine uses its distinctive ma la () seasoning and other complex flavour combinations, frequently employs Sichuan pepper along with chilies which are often dried. It also utilises more dried or preserved ingredients and condiments. Hunan cuisine, on the other hand, is often spicier by pure chili content and contains a larger variety of fresh ingredients. Both Hunan and Sichuan cuisine are perhaps significantly oilier than the other cuisines in China, but Sichuan dishes are generally oilier than Hunan dishes. Another characteristic distinguishing Hunan cuisine from Sichuan cuisine is that Hunan cuisine uses smoked and cured goods in its dishes much more frequently.

Hunan cuisine's menu changes with the seasons. In a hot and humid summer, a meal will usually start with cold dishes or a platter holding a selection of cold meats with chilies for opening the pores and keeping cool in the summer. In winter, a popular choice is hot pot, thought to heat the blood in the cold months. A special hot pot called yuanyang huoguo () is notable for splitting the pot into a spicy and a mild side. One of the classic dishes in Hunan cuisine served in restaurants and at home is farmer pepper fried pork. It is made with several common ingredients: pork belly, green pepper, fermented black beans and other spices.

List of notable dishes

A discussion of Hunan cuisine overall may list a number of piquant dishes, usually but not always very hot and spicy.

References

References

1. "A Song of Spice and Fire: The Real Deal with Hunan Cuisine".
2. 王, 墨泉. (March 2018). "湘菜本色". 湖南人民出版社.
3. (14 April 2016). "Why Revolutionaries Love Spicy Food".
4. "Hunan Government Website International-enghunan.gov.cn Hunan Cuisine".
5. B, Ivan. (2019-07-28). "China Spice Wars: Sichuan Cuisine vs. Hunan Cuisine".
6. (2016-12-09). "Hunan cuisine {{!}} China & Asia Cultural Travel".
7. Guo, Wei. (2021-02-26). "Hunan Pork Stir-fry (湖南小炒肉)".
8. "一城一味丨长沙：最令人神魂颠倒的，是口味虾的那口香辣 - 寻味湖湘 - 新湖南".
9. Jiang, Yan. (Apr 27, 2016). "Top 10 Hunan dishes you have to taste".