There are four major cuisines and eight major cuisines in Chinese cuisine, among which "four major cuisines" refer to Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine; "Eight major cuisines" refer to Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Hunan cuisine and Anhui cuisine. Hunan cuisine is located among the eight major cuisines, but it does not belong to the four major cuisines, and there is no Hunan cuisine in the four famous cuisines in China.

Hunan cuisine, also known as Hunan cuisine, is one of the eight major cuisines with a long history in China, which was formed as early as the Han Dynasty. Xiangjiang River Basin, Dongting Lake Area and Xiangxi Mountain Area are the three local flavors.

Hunan cuisine is well-made, with a wide range of materials, changeable tastes and various varieties. The color is oily and heavy, and it is practical; Pay attention to spicy, delicious and tender taste; The method of making is known as stewing, stewing, waxing, steaming and frying. The theme of Hunan cuisine is cooking. In fact, many people in Hunan are also afraid of spicy food, and they want to eat that kind of spicy food, which leads to the result of eating more rice. Therefore, the main function of Hunan cuisine is cooking.

The representative dishes of official Hunan cuisine are represented by Zuan Hunan cuisine, such as Zuan tofu and Zuan shark's fin. Representative dishes of folk Hunan cuisine include chopped pepper fish head, stir-fried meat with pepper, Xiangxi Waipo, Jishou sour meat, beef powder, Chenzhou fish powder, Dong 'an chicken, goldfish playing lotus, Yongzhou blood duck, steamed bacon, sister dumplings, Ningxiang tasty snake, Yueyang ginger and spicy snake and so on.

Hunan cuisine is not as good as Sichuan cuisine, so it is even more difficult to enter the four major cuisines. There are some similarities in cooking techniques and taste between Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. "The theme of Hunan cuisine is to prepare meals", which stimulates taste buds and promotes appetite. Sichuan cuisine, on the other hand, has many branches, such as: Shanghebang Sichuan cuisine represented by Chengdu official cuisine and Meishan cuisine in western Sichuan; Xiaohebang Sichuan cuisine, featuring Zigong salt cuisine, Neijiang sugar cuisine, Luzhou fresh cuisine and Yibin Sanjiang cuisine, is featured in southern Sichuan, and Xiahebang Sichuan cuisine, featuring Chongqing Jianghu cuisine and Wanzhou big bowl cuisine, is featured in eastern Sichuan. This laid the foundation for saying that Sichuan cuisine is more tasteful than Hunan cuisine.

There are not many famous dishes in Hunan cuisine, especially the fish head with chopped pepper. However, Sichuan cuisine is not only spicy, but also light and refreshing, such as boiled cabbage. Therefore, the structural form of Sichuan cuisine is wider than that of Hunan cuisine, and Hunan cuisine is too narrow.