The personality of Hunan cuisine is usually considered to be spicy. Hunan people are known for their spicy food, even more than Sichuan people who are also spicy. However, it is not true that Hunan cuisine is only spicy, because spicy passes through Southwest China, and their respective spices are different: Sichuan is spicy, Guizhou is spicy, Yunnan is fresh and spicy, Shaanxi is salty and spicy, and Hunan is sour and spicy. This sour, unlike vinegar, is mellow and soft, and combines with the spicy to create a unique flavor.

The classic Hunan dishes include: Hunan lotus with rock sugar, bighead carp head in casserole, chicken ball in clear soup, stewed pork with dried vegetables, lettuce in oil and spices, simmered square pork in red sauce, mushroom in tripe soup, shredded goat maw in hot and spicy sauce, duck in clear soup with firewood, spicy catfish and eggplant in roasted catfish sauce, fried preserved pork with dried radish, steamed pork in lotus leaf, shredded squid in hot and sour sauce, preserved pork and preserved meat in steam, sashimi in Shanghai soup, roasted chili pepper and skinny eggs, steamed pork ribs in lotus and spices, roasted fatty fish in soy bean sauce, duck paw in soup and soaked tripe, duck fried with ginger, Dongan chicken, and good shredded chicken in soup. Stir-fried Chicken, Dongan Chicken, Shredded Pork Leaves, Squid with Black Bean and Pepper, Spicy Chicken Legs, Scallop with Mom, Spicy Bamboo Shoots with Oil, Stir-fried Double Silver, Deep-fried Vegetarian Square, Braised Vegetable Heart with Chestnut, Crispy Lotus Root Balls with Pepper and Salt, Buckled Pork with Black Bean and Oil, Stuffed Meat Pillar in Bitter Melon, Sour and Spicy Chinese Kale, Bitter Melon Stewed with Fattened Sausage, Sesame Bean Curd, Spicy Chicken, Eggplant Roasted with Egg Yolk, Braised Beef Trotters, Fillet of Fish with Chicken Needle in Chicken Sauce, Stewed Fish with Red Fish in Red Sauce, Spicy Vegetables with Oil, Pork Knuckles with Pork, Preserved Meat Stewed Loach, Spicy and Sour String Beans, Roasted Pork Belly and Vegetable with Vinegar, Stewed Milkshake with Tomato and Silver Fungus, Eel with Black Beans and Peppers, Stir-fried Bacon with Bamboo Shoots, Steamed Live Fish with Black Beans and Peppers