Hunan cuisine
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Hunan cuisine, sometimes called Xiang cuisine (Chinese: 湖南菜 or 湘菜; pinyin: hú'náncài or xiāngcài), consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province, in China. Hunan cuisine is consisted of three styles: Xiang River style which is represented by dishes of Changsha, Dongting Lake style which is represented by dishes of Hengyang, and western Hunan style which is represented by dishes of Xiangtan.
Hunan cuisine is one of the eight regional cuisines of China and is well known for its hot spicy flavor, fresh aroma and deep color. Common cooking techniques include stewing, frying, pot-roasting, braising, and smoking. Due to the high agricultural output of the region, ingredients for Hunan dishes are many and varied. Hunan is known for its liberal use of chilli peppers, shallots and garlic.
Xiang cuisine is known for being dry hot (干辣), or purely hot, as opposed to Szechuan cuisine, the neighbor to which it is often compared. Hunan Cuisine is often spicier and contains a larger variety of ingredients. Other characters distinguish Hunan cuisine from Szechuan cuisine is that in general, Hunan cuisine utilizes smoked and curing food in its dishes much more frequently than Szechuan cuisine. Hunan cuisine dishes are often more oily and look darker than Szechuan cuisine dishes.
Another feature of Hunan cuisine is the menu will change following the season’s alternation. In a hot and humid summer, a meal will usually start with cold dishes or a platter holding a selection of cold meats with chillies for opening the pores and keep cool in the summer. In winter, a popular choice is the hot pot, for heating the blood in the cold months. A special hot pot called (鸳鸯火锅) lover's hot pot is famous for splitting the pot into a spicy and a lighter side.
[edit] History
The history of the cooking skills employed in the Hunan cuisine date back many centuries. During the course of its history, Hunan cuisine assimilated a variety of cuisine styles, and then developed its own style. Now it contains more than 4000 dishes and among which over 300 dishes are very famous like (麻辣鸡丁) fried chicken with Sichuan spicy sauce and （干豆角蒸腊肉）smoked pork with dried long green beans.
[edit] Representative dishes
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Steamed fish heads in chili sauce
- Orange chicken
- Orange beef
- Crispy Duck
- Dongan Chicken
- Peppery and Hot Chicken (Hot and Spicy Chicken)
- Lotus Seeds in Sugar Candy
- Stinky Tofu
- Xiaoxiang Turtle
- Wuling snake in its own soup
- Mashed shrimp in lotus pod
- Xiangdu Roast Duck
- Sizzling Rice Soup
