Xiaoxiang flavor represented by Hunan cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines in China. Hunan province is located in the south-central part, on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The climate here is warm, with abundant rainfall and sunshine, and the four seasons are distinct. There is Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue in the south and vast Dongting in the north. Four rivers, Hunan, Guizhou, Yuan and Cheng, pass through the whole province. Rich natural conditions are conducive to the development of agriculture, animal husbandry, sideline and fishery, so the products are particularly rich. Xiangbei is a famous Dongting Lake plain, which is rich in fish, shrimp and xianglian, and is a famous land of fish and rice. In Historical Records, it is recorded that Chu is "rich in terrain and has no hunger or thirst". For a long time, the proverb "the lake is wide and ripe, and the world is full" has been widely circulated. Southeast Hunan is hilly and basin, and agriculture, animal husbandry and by-product fishery are well developed. Xiangxi is mountainous and rich in bamboo shoots, mushrooms and delicacies. Rich products provide exquisite raw materials for diet. Famous specialties are: Wuling soft-shelled turtle, Junshan silver needle, Qiyang basin fish, Dongting scarab, Taoyuan chicken, Linwu duck, Wugang goose, Xianglian, whitebait bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and mountain delicacies in western Hunan. In the long-term food culture and cooking practice, Hunan people have created a variety of dishes. According to research, as early as the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, Changsha was able to cook various styles of delicacies with various raw materials such as animals, poultry and fish through cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, boiling and roasting. With the development of history and the continuous exchange of cooking skills, three local flavors of Hunan cuisine have gradually formed: Xiangjiang River Basin, Dongting Lake Area and Xiangxi Mountain Area.

Hunan cuisine is a local flavor dish with a long history in China. Xiangxi cuisine is famous for its fragrance, sour and spicy taste, and it is rich in mountain flavor. Hunan cuisine has a long history. As early as the Han dynasty, a kind of cuisine has been formed, and its cooking skills have reached a fairly high level. Hunan is located in the south-central part of China, with warm climate, abundant rainfall and superior natural conditions. Xiangxi is mountainous and rich in bamboo shoots, mushrooms and delicacies; Southeast Hunan is hilly and basin, with developed domestic animal husbandry and by-fishery; Xiangbei is a famous Dongting Lake plain, and it is known as "Land of Fish and Rice". The Records of the Historian recorded that Chu was "rich in terrain and had no hunger".

History of Hunan cuisine

Hunan is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, with fertile land, mild climate and superior natural conditions. It is one of the developed areas in ancient China.

A large number of exquisite pottery vessels and wine vessels unearthed from the Neolithic sites in Hunan Province, as well as the remains of grains and animal bones unearthed with these pottery, confirm that Xiaoxiang ancestors broke away from the original state of eating animals and cooked food as early as 89,000 years ago. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Hunan was mainly a place where Chu people and Yue people lived together, with many nationalities living together, different eating customs and prevailing sacrificial rites. Wang Yi explained the Nine Songs in Han Dynasty and said, "In the past, between Wen Yi and Yuanxiang in southern Chu, people believed in ghosts and loved shrines, and their shrines must make songs and music to enlighten the gods ..." Every ritual activity was always accompanied by dance and music. Sacrificing to gods, places, ancestors, weddings and funerals, welcoming guests and seeing them off, all need to eat. There are strict requirements for the variety of dishes, and they are also very particular about color, fragrance, taste and shape. For example, during the Warring States Period more than 300 years BC, the great poet Qu Yuan was exiled to Hunan and wrote the famous poem Chu Ci. Among them, "Evocation of Soul" and "Big Trick" reflect the rich and delicious dishes, drinks and snacks in this sacrificial activity at that time. There is a description in "Evocation": "... eating too much, Migaimai, Huangliangduo." Bitter and salty, it is difficult to make a difference. Fat cows smell better. If you are bitter, Chen Wu will have some soup. The turtle shoots mutton with some pulp. Sour fish, fry some red fish. It is unpleasant to show chickens. Explained in the vernacular, it is like this: "The food you eat is rich and colorful. You can eat rice, millet, glutinous rice and Huang Liang at will. Sweet and sour, salty and bitter, harmonious and palatable. Beef tendon is soft and fragrant. Sour black fruit soup. Roasted turtle, roast mutton and sugarcane juice. Vinegar boiled swans, braised pheasants, fried fat geese and cranes, braised chicken and stewed turtle soup are delicious and full of energy-they will last for a long time. "In addition, the big move also mentioned Chu cheese-Chu cheese, dolphins-pork sauce, bitter dog meat dried dog meat, roasted crow, steamed pheasant, fried. It can be seen that there were dozens of cooking methods such as burning, roasting, stewing, frying, boiling, steaming, stewing, vinegar cooking, halogen and sauce in the diet life of Hunan ancestors at that time. The raw materials used are also natural resources with the color of Chu Xiang. In addition, according to the records in Songs of the South, the snacks at that time were also very distinctive. Qu Yuan described it this way: "... and some honey and erbium. Yaojiang honey spoon is more feathery. If you drink cold, it will be cooler. Chinese food is frozen, and there is some nectar .. "Interpreted as vernacular, it means:" There are fried honey glutinous rice Baba and steamed honey cake, and caramel. The iced glutinous rice wine is really cool and mellow, and the jade yellow wine is enough to make you intoxicated ... "All these show that as early as the Warring States period, the dietary life of Hunan ancestors was quite colorful and the cooking skills were quite mature, forming a southern flavor dominated by sour, salty, sweet and bitter. As for the daily staple food of Hunan ancestors during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, according to archaeological and historical records, there are rice, sorghum, beans, wheat, millet, millet and rice, but rice is the main one. Steamed rice retort, pot, kettle, etc. Steamed rice is not sticky or sweet. When cooking porridge, put rice and water into the porridge and cook it with fire until the rice is cooked. When the rice porridge is ready, after the dish is ready, it must be put in a container for easy eating. At that time, Hunan's utensils were not only complete in variety, but also exquisite and elegant. As far as materials are concerned, it mainly includes pottery, bronze, iron, lacquer and so on. Although these food containers have appeared since the Shang Dynasty, their shapes have their own characteristics in Hunan. In particular, thousands of lacquerware unearthed from Chu Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, have beautiful shapes, bright colors and smooth patterns.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, Hunan's food culture gradually formed a relatively complete system in terms of materials, cooking methods and flavor styles, and its rich raw materials, colorful cooking methods and delicious flavor were outstanding. 1972 It can be seen from the burial relics of Xin Zhui, the wife of a soft Hou in Mawangdui, Changsha City, Hunan Province that there were nearly 100 kinds of exquisite dishes and delicacies in Hunan more than 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty. There are 24 kinds of broth in 5 categories. Pure meat is called Taitang, which is the best soup. There are nine kinds, all of which are thick soup. The clear soup cooked by stewing is called white soup, including beef white soup, deer taro white soup and fresh mandarin fish lotus root abalone white soup. The meat soup cooked with celery is called Chinese soup. There are three kinds of soup: dog towel soup, goose towel soup and crucian carp lotus root soup. The meat soup cooked with mugwort is called every soup, including beef soup, sheep soup and tapir soup. There are two kinds of broth cooked with bitter vegetables: dog soup and beef soup. There are 72 kinds of food. For example, "fish skin" is the meat cut from the belly of raw fish; "Cattle fat" and "deer fat" are foods made by cutting raw meat into filaments; "Boiled rabbit" and "boiled quail" are dry-fried rabbits or quails.

It can be seen from the unearthed Raiders of the Western Han Dynasty that the cooking methods in Hunan in the Han Dynasty have further developed compared with those in the Warring States period, and developed into soup, roasting, frying, boiling, steaming, boiling, processing, bacon, wax, processing, boiling and so on. Seasonings used in cooking include salt, sauce, black beans, sake koji, sugar, honey, leek, plum, cinnamon, pepper and dogwood. Because Hunan is rich in natural products, it is known as the "land of abundance", so since the Tang and Song Dynasties, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hunan's food culture has developed more perfectly, and gradually formed a distinctive Hunan cuisine among the eight major Chinese cuisines.

food culture

Generally speaking, the dietary customs in Hunan mainly have the following characteristics:

1. In Hunan, "eating" has rich social significance. First of all, in people's weddings and funerals, eating is always an important content. Marriage is called "having a wedding banquet"; The dead, commonly known as "eating meat"; If you add the population, you will have a "full moon"; Eat poached eggs and "birthday noodles" for your birthday. Secondly, "eating" is also one of people's important social means. When friends and acquaintances meet, the first greeting is often: "Have you eaten?" When you visit a friend's house, you can eat 10 or 12 dishes, which shows that you have received the warmest hospitality from your host.

2. In Hunan, due to geographical and climatic reasons, rice is planted in most areas, and people's daily diet is mainly rice. However, in a few mountainous areas, especially in some places in northern Hunan, corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes can only be used as staple foods for planting dry food crops. In recent years, the economy of these areas has gradually developed, producing flue-cured tobacco or medicinal materials, which can be sold to the country in exchange for rice, so rice and corn have gradually become staple foods. Sweet potato and potato are gradually separated from the staple food and become raw materials for making starchy food, brewing wine and sun-dried vegetables. Or feed for livestock. In Hunan, people eat three meals a day, whether in urban or rural areas. The difference is that in cities, breakfast is more casual, dinner is the heaviest in a day, and diet is the heaviest on weekends in a week. In rural areas, there is no obvious difference between three meals a day. Every lunar festival or solar term, the diet is generally more grand than that in the city. Within a year, the diet around the Spring Festival is the most important. In addition, no matter in urban or rural areas, almost every household should make some pickles, dried vegetables, pickles, preserved vegetables and pickles according to different seasons. Whenever guests arrive, the dining table is always served to show the housewife's skills and housekeeping ability.

3, regardless of men, women and children, generally spicy. Whether it's three meals on weekdays, a restaurant banquet, or a drink for three friends and four friends, one or two peppers are indispensable.

It is said that pepper originated in tropical South America and was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty. Hunan's geographical environment is called "lowly and wet land" in ancient times, which is rainy and humid. Pepper has the effect of keeping out cold and expelling wind and dampness; In addition, Hunan people take rice as their staple food all the year round, which can directly stimulate saliva secretion, stimulate appetite and increase appetite. When people eat more, they form a spicy custom. People in Hunan eat peppers in various ways. Soak the red pepper in a sealed acid jar, which is sour and spicy, and it is called "hot and sour"; Combine red and spicy, pepper and garlic, and call it "spicy"; Chop up the big red pepper and pickle it in a sealed jar, which is salty and spicy, so it is called "salty and spicy"; Chop red pepper, mix in dried rice flour, and marinate in a sealed jar. When eating, it can be fried or mashed, which is called "spicy"; After red pepper is crushed, garlic seeds and fragrant black beans are added and soaked in tea oil, which is rich in flavor and is called "oily and spicy"; Barbecue the red pepper in the fire, then peel off the thin skin and mix with sesame oil and soy sauce. Spicy and sweet, it is called "fresh and spicy". In addition, dried and fresh peppers can also be used as cooking ingredients, and there are many ways to eat them. Especially in Miao Village, Xiangxi Dong nationality township, whenever guests come, they always entertain them with dried Chili stew. When persuading guests, they always politely invite them to eat "Chili" instead of "meat" again and again, which shows that they like spicy food very much. In recent years, Hunan cuisine has been welcomed by customers in Europe, America and Southeast Asia, especially the United States and Canada. In the United States, in front of some Hunan restaurants, there is a sign painted with big red pepper, which says Hunan pepper, and the apron of the waitress in the museum is also embroidered with big red pepper.

4. Hunan people love bitter taste. According to documents, its origin can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. There is a poem in "Chu Ci evokes the soul" that says, "Bitter should be salty, sweet should do something". The "great bitterness" here is said to be lobster sauce. So this condiment made of beans has a history of more than 2000 years. Until now, people in Hunan still have the habit of eating lobster sauce, such as Liuyang lobster sauce, which is one of the famous local specialties. Others such as bitter claw and bitter buckwheat are also deeply loved by Hunan people. Bitterness not only has its historical origin, but also has its local characteristics. Hunan is located in the subtropical zone, with a long hot summer. Traditional Chinese medicine explains the meaning of summer heat: weather dominates heat, local qi dominates dampness, and damp heat steams up, which is called summer heat; When people are in the communication of qi, they will feel sick, which is summer sickness. And "bitterness can purge fire", "bitterness can dry dampness" and "bitterness can strengthen the stomach". Therefore, people eat some bitter food properly, which is helpful to clear away heat, dry dampness and stomach, and is of great benefit to health care. Looking at the topography of Hunan, most of the northern Hunan is a lake area, most of the southern Hunan is a mountainous area, and the central Hunan is a typical hilly area. This regional difference leads to the diversity of dietary customs in various parts of Hunan. We divide it into three areas: Xiangxi area, central Hunan area and southern Hunan area, and northern Hunan area.

Characteristics of Hunan cuisine

The dishes in Xiangjiang River Basin are centered on Changsha, Hengyang and Xiangtan, and are the main representatives of Hunan cuisine. It has fine production, extensive materials, diverse tastes and various varieties. Its characteristics are: strong oil color, emphasis on practical benefits, and emphasis on hot and sour taste, fragrant and fresh, soft and tender. In the production method, it is known as simmering, stewing, waxing, steaming and frying. Stew and stew pay attention to small fire cooking, thick juice stew, clear soup like a mirror; The production methods of bacon include smoking, marinating and barbecued pork. The famous Hunan bacon is a smoked product, which can be cold dishes, stir-fried or steamed with high-quality original soup. Cooking is fresh, tender, fragrant and spicy, which is well known in the market. The famous representative dishes are: steamed sea cucumber, steamed bacon, braised pork, spicy chicken and so on. They are all famous dishes and delicacies.

The dishes in Dongting Lake area are good at cooking seafood, poultry and family words. They are often stewed, roasted and waxed, and are characterized by thick oil, salty, spicy and soft. Stews are often dominated by hot pot, while folks use steamed bowls to stew on mud stoves, commonly known as steamed bowl stoves. Often cooked while eating, hot and tender, with relish. There is a local folk song called "Don't want to go to the court, just steam the cooker", which fully shows that stew is widely loved by the people. Representative dishes are: the golden turtle in Dongting Lake, the mandarin fish stewed in pure oil in Dongting Lake, the butterfly floating on the sea and the fragrant lotus with rock sugar, all of which are famous dishes in Dongting Lake area.

Xiangxi cuisine is good at making delicacies, smoked bacon and all kinds of bacon. It has a strong Shan Ye flavor, and its taste is mainly salty, fragrant and sour, with firewood as the fuel. Representative dishes are: braised cold sauce, boiled chestnut heart, Xiangxi sour meat and fried blood duck, all of which are well-known delicacies in Xiangxi.

Looking at Hunan cuisine, the same flavor is spicy and bacon. Pepper is famous for its strong spicy taste, which is produced all over the province and is the main raw material for making spicy dishes. The production of bacon has a long history, which has been circulated in China for more than 2,000 years. The cuisines in the three regions have their own characteristics, but they are not completely different. But there are differences in similarities, similarities in differences, interdependence and mutual communication. Looking at the whole picture, the knife is exquisite, the shape is delicious, the seasoning is changeable, the sour and spicy are famous, the original juice is emphasized, and the techniques are diverse, especially the simmering. With the progress of the times and the development of national economy, this wonderful flower of Hunan cuisine will bloom more brilliantly.

From April 6 to September 58, Mao Zedong and other central leaders visited the Changsha Fire Palace and tasted famous dishes, which were well received. The main famous dishes of Hunan cuisine are Dong chicken, braised shark's fin, steamed bacon, whole duck cake, spicy winter bamboo shoots, braised chestnuts, five-yuan fairy chicken and Jishou hot and sour meat. Among them, "Braised shark's fin", also known as "Anzu shark's fin", is a famous dish in Hunan. Cooking methods are shark's fin, chicken soup, soy sauce and so on. Simmer with a small fire. Juice is delicious and famous for its freshness and softness. During the Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, Jinshitan liked this dish very much, so his chef improved the method of braised fish wings, cooking chicken, pork belly and shark fin together, making the shark fin softer and more mellow and delicious. Tan Jinshi is highly praised for his delicious food and is famous all over the world. Therefore, this dish was created by Jia's chef, so it is called "shark's fin in the temple".

Family photo: This is the traditional first course of family dinner, showing the joy and happiness of the family. The materials used for family photos are relatively simple. General ingredients are: fried meatballs, egg rolls, water-fried pigskin, clean vegetables and winter bamboo shoots, water-fried bean bamboo shoots, water-fried auricularia, vegetarian meat slices, cooked belly slices, alkali-fried cuttlefish slices, chicken gizzards, chicken livers and so on. The auxiliary material is refined salt.

Monosodium glutamate, pepper, onion, soy sauce, gouache, fresh meat soup, etc. It is very simple to make: after the above-mentioned main ingredients and auxiliary materials are prepared, first put the winter bamboo shoots in a boiling water pot for about five minutes, then take them out, cut them into willow slices, then cut the bean bamboo shoots into one inch long, then wash the fungus, tear them into domino slices, slice the chicken gizzard and liver, cut the cuttlefish into one inch square slices, steam the meatballs and egg rolls in a steamer, and then take them out when serving.

A hundred birds fly at the phoenix: it is a traditional famous dish in Hunan, symbolizing gathering and being happy. Slaughter a fat hen, remove blood and hair, remove the mouth shell and foot skin, cut the chicken skin about one inch long between the neck and wings with a knife, and take out the esophagus, food bag and trachea; Then cut an incision about one and a half inches long from the anus, take out the rest of the chicken's internal organs and clean them, so that the whole body of the chicken will not be damaged. Then steam the whole chicken with high fire until the chicken is soft, then add the shelled cooked eggs and steam for about 20 minutes, that is, take out the original soup from the steamer and steam it, pour it into a clean pot, turn the chicken over and turn it into a sea bowl, take out the ginger slices, boil the original soup, add Chinese cabbage and mushrooms, put it into a chicken bowl when it is boiled again, and sprinkle with appropriate amount of pepper. At this time, it has become a delicious dish, the chicken is bulging, and eggs and cabbage hearts emerge around the whole chicken.

Anzu shark's fin: also known as braised shark's fin, is a traditional dish in Hunan. The shark fin in the temple is exquisite in materials and unique in production. It is necessary to select the ridge wings, remove the rough and extract the essence; In addition, use a hen, a pig elbow, shrimp, scallops, mushrooms and other seasonings. At the same time, the hen and the pig elbow are cooked on medium heat and simmered on low heat to make soup. After the shark's fin expands, it is steamed with animal soup, and then simmered with seasonings such as shrimp, scallops and mushrooms. This dish has a mellow taste, soft shark's fin and rich nutrition, which is really a treasure in the dish. Before liberation, Qu Yuan Restaurant operated this dish, which was quite appreciated by diners.

Zi Long defoaming: a traditional Hunan cuisine with eel as the main ingredient. Because eels need to go through the processes of breaking fish, deboning, decapitation and peeling. In the production process, especially the peeling of eels looks like the undressing of ancient military commanders, so this dish is named Zilong undressing. Before liberation, when Li Zongren was acting president of the Republic of China, he hosted a banquet in Qu Yuan's Nanjing branch. During the dinner, Zilong was full of praise for taking off his robe. Therefore, Qu Yuan was once famous as the ancient capital of Jinling. Zi Long's undressing method is not only unique, but also the name of the dish is novel and intriguing, which has always attracted many celebrities. For example, Qi Baishi, Wu Han and Tian Han have all been to Qu Yuan and tasted this dish. After liberation, Qu Yuan's old chef was also called to Zhongnanhai to perform for President Mao Zedong. At present, only another country hotel, Lotus Hall, is reserved for production and supply.

Farewell My Concubine: Traditional Hunan cuisine, produced in the late Qing Dynasty. In this century, restaurants such as Yuloudong, Quyuan, Xiaoxiang and Laoyiyuan in Changsha often exist. Farewell My Concubine is made of soft-shelled turtle and chicken as the main raw materials, supplemented by mushrooms, ham, cooking wine, onions, ginger, garlic and other seasonings, which are first boiled and then steamed and refined. The method is exquisite, the eating method is unique, the taste is delicious and the nutrition is rich. I tasted it once, and it is still fragrant between my teeth. It is a good product at the banquet.

Three-layer chicken set meal: traditional Hunan cuisine, one of the famous dishes that Changsha famous chef Liu Sanhe is good at. In the late 1920s, Mrs Sha, who was in charge of Hunan in Ludiping, suffered from headache. The doctor recommended a sparrow, a turtledove and a black-bone chicken to be steamed with gastrodia elata to treat the disease. According to the formula, Liu Sanhe could easily put a pigeon in the hen, a sparrow in the pigeon, gastrodia elata and medlar in the sparrow, and make a three-layer chicken suit, which was famous for a while and was deeply appreciated by the upper class. When He Jian was in Hunan, he often entertained guests at Sanhe Restaurant.

Changsha crispy duck is a masterpiece boldly introduced by senior chef Stone in Changsha. This dish is soft, crisp, tender and delicious, and has won praises from guests from all over the world. This dish uses excellent varieties of fat ducks. When cooking, put peanut oil in the pot, heat it to 60%, add Mamen Duck Crisp, fry it until the hemp layer is golden, pour off the oil, sprinkle pepper powder, pour sesame oil, take it out and cut it into strips, put it neatly on a plate, and put the head, wings and palms together to show that the duck is seated. Coriander is placed around, with beautiful shape, soft color, crisp fragrance and endless aftertaste.

Mushroom without yellow eggs: a traditional dish in Changsha, which was famous as early as the 1930s. The key to the production of mushroom yellow eggs is to master the heat and steam, but not to let the egg white flow out and destroy the shape. Cai Haiyun's eggs are yellow, smooth and not fragile, and the texture is particularly fresh and tender. Customers often marvel at this kind of egg without yolk.

Three outstanding cows: Three outstanding cows were once outstanding representatives of Li Hesheng restaurants. The so-called "three unique cattle" refers to: sending a hundred pages of cattle, braising beef tendon and braising beef brain. When Tian Han, a famous playwright, was in Hunan, he had a special affection for Niu Zhongjie of Li Hesheng Beef Restaurant. One day, when Tian Han and Xiangxiang celebrity Deng Youyuan were drinking, Deng Jiuhan blurted out a couplet: Muslims jointly run a beef restaurant; Tian Han answered: Boss Li kindly gave money to Hunan drinkers. Li Hesheng just plugged in, Li Daxi brought a pen and inkstone, and asked Tian Hanshu to send it as a souvenir, which was passed down as a beautiful talk. The loose knot in the cow is made by seiko. Wool-cut beef pages should use the creases on the inner wall of tripe, finely cut like hair, with gorgeous color, sour and spicy taste, crisp and tender texture and five flavors: sour, spicy, salty, fresh and crisp. Braised beef tendon is made of beef tendon, cinnamon, Shaoxing wine, onion and ginger slices. It's soft and delicious.

You can name it spicy restaurant.