Hunan regional cuisine

The Hunan cuisine shares many similarities with its close cousin, more well known, Szechwan cooking, Both originate in the western region of China. Here the climate is subtropical - humid and warm enough to encourage the use of fiery spices to help cool the body and that require high seasoning food as a preservative. With a similar climate, the two regions share many ingredients - rice is an important staple in both diets, and chili peppers are an important part of most dishes. The two styles of regional cuisine are similar enough that many restaurants and cookbooks lump together under 'Western cuisine China' or simple refer to both as Szechwan cuisine.

Although there are some important differences. Hunan cuisine is on the one hand, hotter than most Szechwan dishes. Szechwan dishes often include chili paste for rubbing into meats, or even salsa. Hunan chefs include whole dried chili pepper, with its intensely spicy seeds and bark.

The differences in the actual terrain of the two regions also has an effect on the differences in their kitchen. Szechwan region is mountainous jungle, with little arable land for agriculture. The Hunan region, by contrast, is a land of rolling hills and lazy rivers. Because of its fertile hills and valleys, the region of Hunan have access to an incredible variety of ingredients that are not available to Szechwan chefs. Seafood and meat is much more common in Hunan cooking, both as many vegetables.

The land and the difficulties associated with it, also gives the Hunan more time to concentrate on food. Hunan complex and laborious preparation cooking time characteristics. Many dishes begin their preparation the day before serving and can be marinated, then steamed or smoked and finally fried or boiled before they reach the table. The same attention to the preparation of ingredients, and is said to be the most pleasing of all Chinese cuisines Hunan cuisine. The shape of a particular food recipe is almost as important as its presence in the final dish. Hunan chefs are specialists with the knife - carving fanciful shapes of vegetables and fruits to be used in preparing meals or to present them.

Hunan cuisine is noted for its use of chili peppers, garlic and shallots and the use of sauces to accent the flavors of the ingredients in a bowl. It is not uncommon for a Hunan dish to play with contrasts of flavors - hot and sour, sweet, bitter, sweet and hot - hot, spicy and deliciously sweet at once. Hunan chefs are noted for their ability to create a symphony of flavor ingredients. A classic example is pasta with spicy meat with vegetables, where the meat is first marinated overnight in a mixture of citrus and ginger, then washed and rubbed with Chile before being simmered in a spicy Hunan. The end result is a meat that is meltingly tender on the tongue and changes flavor and enjoy it.

Increasingly, restaurants are beginning to solve the two cuisines, and Hunan cuisine is coming into its own. Crispy duck and fried garlic beans are taking their place alongside Kung Pao chicken and double cooked pork. But there is no battle between the two for a place of honor among the Chinese regional cuisines - on the contrary, there are only winners - diners who have the pleasure of sampling them.