Chinese · regional cuisine
Hunan (Xiang)
One of the Eight Great Cuisines: hotter and more directly chilli-forward than Sichuan, without the numbing pepper, and rich in smoked meats and chopped salted chillies.
Flavour character: 'Dry heat' (gan la) and 'pure heat' from fresh, dried and salted chillies; sour from pickled chillies and vegetables; smoky from cured meats; oilier and saltier than Cantonese food.
History
Hunan's damp, rice-growing Xiang river valley adopted the chilli enthusiastically after it arrived in China in the late Ming. Smoking and salting meat (la rou) over wood fires is an old winter practice in the province. Red-braised pork in the Hunan style became nationally famous as a favourite of Mao Zedong, a native of Shaoshan, and many Hunan restaurants opened across China after 1949.
Commonly told; not firmly documented
Geography and influences
South-central China around the Xiang river and Dongting Lake: rice paddies, lake fish, pork and abundant fresh and preserved chillies.
- Columbian exchange chillies
- Dongting Lake freshwater fish
- Winter smoking and curing of pork
Regional variations
- Xiang river (Changsha)
- The main style: chilli-heavy stir-fries and steamed dishes.
- Dongting Lake
- Freshwater fish, lotus and waterfowl.
- Western Hunan (Xiangxi)
- Mountain cooking with heavily smoked and cured meats and sour pickles.
Festive and seasonal food
- La rou (smoked cured pork) and sausages prepared for Lunar New Year
Signature dishes
- Hunan farmhouse stir-fried pork with green chillies
- Hunan steamed fish with chopped chillies
- Red-braised pork belly
Not on the site yet: Duo jiao yu tou (fish head with chopped chillies), Mao-style red-braised pork, Changsha stinky tofu, Smoked pork with dried radish, Dong'an chicken
Sichuan · 50 min · 224 kcal
