Hunan Cuisine

Introduction

The regional cooking of Hunan, leaning to sour and hot flavours, skilled with cured meats, simmering and stewing.

Hunan cuisine is the regional cooking of Hunan and has three flavour areas, the Xiang River valley, the Dongting Lake region and the mountains of western Hunan, with a taste that leans especially towards sour and hot. The Xiang valley uses much simmering and stewing; the Dongting area uses stewing, curing and steaming, with much river fish and poultry; and the western mountains use steaming, stewing and boiling and favour cured foods and game, with smoke-cured meats especially common. Tomb 3 of the Han tombs at Mawangdui in Changsha was sealed about 168 BCE, and the food remains and the inventory of grave goods found in it reflect what was eaten there in the Western Han. It is reported that the Hunan chili records found so far begin with the gazetteers of Baoqing prefecture and Shaoyang county of 1684, in the Kangxi reign, which call it haijiao, sea pepper. Among its dishes, steamed mixed cured meats are often named.

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