Hunan.

Xiang Cuisine, also known as Hunan Cuisine, is one of the eight major cuisines in China with a long history, and the cuisine was formed as early as the Han Dynasty. It is based on the three local flavors of the Xiangjiang River Basin, the Dongting Lake area and the mountainous areas of western Hunan.

Xiaoxiang flavor, represented by Hunan cuisine, referred to as "Hunan cuisine", is one of China's eight (Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hunan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Hui cuisine) cuisine. Hunan Province is located in the south-central region, on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It has a warm climate, abundant rainfall, plenty of sunshine and four distinct seasons. In the south, there is the majestic Nanyue Hengshan Mountain, in the north, there is a blue dongting, and the Xiang, Zi, Yuan and Li rivers flow through the province. The natural conditions are favorable for the development of agriculture, animal husbandry, by-products and fishery, so the products are especially rich. The north of Hunan is the famous Dongting Lake Plain, which is rich in fish and shrimp and Xianglian, and is the famous land of fish and rice. It is recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian that "the land is rich in food, and there is no famine". For a long time, the proverb of "the world is full when the lake is ripe" has been widely spread. Southeast Hunan is a hilly area and a basin, where agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery are very developed. The western part of Hunan is mountainous and rich in bamboo shoots, mushrooms and mountain treasures. The rich produce provides exquisite raw materials for the diet, and the famous specialties are: Wuling turtle, Junshan silver needle, Qiyang penfish, Dongting golden turtle, Taoyuan chicken, Linwu duck, Wugang goose, Xianglian, silver fish, and bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and mountain treasures in the mountainous areas of western Hunan. In the long history of food culture and cooking practice, Hunan people have created a variety of dishes. According to evidence, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago, the Changsha area was able to use a variety of raw materials, such as animals, birds, fish, etc., to produce various styles of dishes by steaming, boiling, boiling, sizzling and other cooking methods. With the advancement of history and the continuous exchange of cooking techniques, Hunan cuisine has gradually formed with three local flavors, mainly from the Xiangjiang River Basin, the Dongting Lake area and the western mountainous areas of Hunan.

1. History of Hunan Cuisine

Hunan, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, with Xiang, Zi, Yuan and Li waters running through the whole country and injected into Dongting Lake, has a fertile land and a temperate climate, with favorable natural conditions, and is one of the ancient culturally developed regions in China.

Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods

Measured from the large number of exquisite pottery eating and drinking vessels unearthed from the Neolithic sites in Hunan, as well as the remnants of grains and animal bones unearthed along with these vessels, it confirms that Xiaoxiang's forefathers broke away from the primitive state of drinking blood and began to eat cooked food as early as 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, Hunan was mainly a place where the Chu and Yue people lived, with multi-ethnic communities, different dietary customs, and a prevalence of rituals. In the Han Dynasty, Wang Yi's "Chu Rhetoric Chapters and Sentences" explains the "Nine Songs" by saying, "In the past, the state of Chu was located in the south of Ying and Wenyi, in the middle of Yuan and Hunan, whose custom was to believe in ghosts and good shrines, and whose shrines must be sung and inspired in order to entertain the gods..." Every ritual is always accompanied by dancing and music. Sacrifices to the gods of heaven, offerings to earth spirits, enjoying ancestors, celebrating marriages, organizing funerals, and welcoming guests and sending them away all require meals. There are strict requirements for the variety of dishes, and they are also very particular about color, aroma, taste and shape. For example, in the Warring States period of 300?years BC, the great poet Qu Yuan was exiled to Hunan and wrote the famous poem "Chu Rhetoric". Two of his poems, "Invoking the Soul" and "The Great Invocation", reflect the rich and flavorful dishes, drinks and snacks served in such rituals at that time. In the "Invocation of the Soul", there is a passage that reads: "... There are many kinds of food, millet and wheat, and yellow sorghum. The food is bitter, salty, sour and pungent. The fat oxen and bullocks, the fat animals, and the sweet and sour ones. The food is sour and bitter, and is served in a soup. The soft turtle and lamb are soft, and there is a cudgel for some of them. The oriole of the swan is rich in acid and fish, and the oriole of the oriole is fried. Chicken meat broth is rich and strong." Explained into the vernacular is this, "The dishes eaten are colorful. Rice, millet, millet, millet, and sorghum are yours to eat. Sour, sweet, salty, bitter, harmonize the taste. Tendons of fat cattle are soft and fragrant. There are Wu soup made of sour and bitter flavors. Roasted turtle and roasted lamb are served with sugar cane juice. Swan cooked in vinegar, stewed pheasant, fried fat geese and oriole cranes, as well as brined chicken and stewed turtle broth, the flavor is beautiful and strong ah - long lasting." In addition, the "Great Trick" mentions "chu cheese" - chu cheese, "minced pork" - a small pork sauce, "bitter dog" - a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, a small pork sauce, and a small pork sauce. "bitter dog"-dried dog meat, "roasted crow"-roasted crows, "masses of eider" - steamed pheasant, "pan-fried" - fried crucian carp, "sparrow" -- yellow finch soup and other dishes. From this, we can know that at that time in Hunan ancestors in the dietary life has been burned, roasted, stewed, fried, boiled, steamed, stewed, vinegar cooking, brine, sauce and so on more than 10 kinds of cooking methods. The raw materials used, are also with chu hunan service color of the material resources. In addition, according to the records of "Chu Shi", the snacks at that time are also very distinctive. Qu Yuan describes it like this: "... Some of them are made of rice flour and honey. Some of them are made of honey and scoops of Yao milk, and some of them are made of real goblets of wine. The wine is cold, and the soju is cool. When the wine is frozen, there is agar..." Interpreted into the vernacular, it means: "There are sticky rice puddings fried in oil and honey, steamed honey cakes, and caramelized sugar. The chilled glutinous rice wine is so cool and mellow, and the jade-yellow yellow wine is enough to intoxicate you..." All of the above shows that as early as in the Warring States period, the Hunan ancestors' dietary life was quite colorful, and their cooking skills were quite mature, forming the southern flavors of sour, salty, sweet, bitter and so on. As for the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of Hunan ancestors of the daily staple food, according to archaeological and historical data confirmed that there are rice, sorghum, beans, wheat, millet, Jigen, corn, rice, etc., but mainly rice. Steamed rice with a retort, pot, kettle and so on. Steamed rice, the grain is not sticky, sweet and palatable flavor. Cooking congee with li, will be rice and water together in the li with fire cooking, rice cooked that is. After steaming rice porridge and cooking dishes, it must be served in a vessel to facilitate consumption. At that time, Hunan food utensils, not only a variety, but also exquisite and elegant. In terms of material, mainly including pottery, bronze, iron, lacquer and so on. Although these eating utensils have appeared since Yin and Shang, their shapes have their own characteristics in Hunan. In particular, thousands of lacquer wares unearthed in Chu tombs in Changsha and other places in Hunan are beautifully shaped, colorful and smoothly patterned.

Qin and Han Dynasties period

Qin and Han Dynasties, Hunan's food culture gradually formed a more complete system from the ingredients, cooking methods to flavor styles, the use of raw materials of the abundance of cooking methods of the colorful, delicious flavor, are more prominent. In 1972, from Hunan Changsha City, Mawangdui, the soft marquis wife of the Xin chase tomb unearthed burial remains can be seen in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, Hunan's fine cuisine has been nearly a hundred kinds of beautiful food. Only one of the meat soup has 5 categories and 24 kinds. With pure meat burned called too soup, is the best soup, there are 9 kinds, are thick soup; with stewing method of cooking clear soup called white soup, there are cattle white soup, venison taro white soup, fresh chuats lotus root abalone white soup and other 7 kinds; plus celery burned meat soup called in the soup, there are dog towel soup, geese towel soup, crucian carrots lotus root in the soup in the soup of 3 kinds; with artemisia burned meat soup called fengyuan, there are cattle fengyuan, goat fengyuan, ragged fengyuan; burned meat with bitter vegetable soup called bitter soup, there are dog and cattle bitter soup bitter soup two kinds. There are two kinds of bitter soup: dog's bitter soup and ox's bitter soup. There are also 72 kinds of food. For example, "Fish Skin" is the meat cut from the belly of raw fish; "Cow Chop", "Deer Chop", etc. are foods made by cutting raw meat into thin shreds; "Boiled Rabbit "Chopped beef" and "chopped deer" are foods made from shredded raw meat; "boiled rabbit" and "boiled quail" are dried and fried rabbit or quail.

Western Han Dynasty

From the excavation of the Western Han Dynasty can be seen, Hunan in the Han Dynasty dietary life in the cooking method than the Warring States period has been a further development, the development of soup, baking, frying, boiling, steaming, Maundy, chopping, preserved, wax, cannon, minced meat,,, tho and so on a variety of. Cooking seasonings with salt, soy sauce, black beans, qu, sugar, honey, chives, plums, cinnamon, pepper, cornelian and so on. Due to the richness of Hunan, known as the "land of fish and rice" reputation, so since the Tang and Song, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties in Hunan food culture development is more perfect, and gradually formed a national eight cuisines in a distinctive characteristics of Hunan cuisine.

2. Characteristics of Hunan Cuisine

The cuisine of the Xiangjiang River Basin

Centered in Changsha, Hengyang and Xiangtan, it is the main representative of Hunan cuisine. It is finely made with a wide range of ingredients, varied flavors and many varieties. It is characterized by: heavy oil color, affordable, in taste focus on sour and spicy, fragrant and fresh, soft and tender. In the method of simmering, stewing, wax, steaming, stir-fry method known. Simmering, stewing pay attention to micro-flame cooking, simmering is taste through the juice, stewing is clear as a mirror soup; preserved flavor system, including smoking, brining, barbecue, the famous Hunan bacon Department of smoked products, both for the cold dishes, but also can be stir-fried, or steamed with high-quality broth; stir-fried highlights freshness, tenderness, aroma, spiciness, known in the city. Famous representative dishes are: "sea cucumber basin steaming", "preserved meat combined steaming",? "go oil black bean buckle meat", "spicy chicken", etc., are famous dishes.

Dongting Lake District dishes

To cook river food, poultry and family language is famous, mostly stewed, burned, steamed, waxed system, which is characterized by gravy oil thick, salty, spicy and soft. Stew commonly used hot pot on the table, the folk are using the steaming bowl placed on the clay stove stew, commonly known as the steaming bowl stove. Often cooked while eating the ingredients, hot and tender, delicious, local "do not want to be extra horse harnessed by the side of a team, as long as the steam bowl stove goo goo ga" ballad, which fully explains the stew is widely loved by the people. Representative dishes are: "Dongting Golden Turtle", "net oil barbecued Dongting guppy", "butterfly floating sea", "ice-sugar Xianglian", "butterfly", "butterfly", "butterfly", "butterfly", "butterfly", "butterfly", "butterfly" and "butterfly". "ice sugar Xianglian" and so on, all are famous dishes in Dongting Lake area with good reputation.

Cooking in the mountainous areas of western Hunan

Specializing in the production of mountain treasures and wild game, smoked bacon and all kinds of cured meat, the taste focuses on salty, sour and spicy, often fueled by wood charcoal, with a strong flavor of the mountainous countryside. Representative dishes are: "braised cold mushrooms", "chestnut roasted cabbage heart", "Xiangxi sour meat", "fried blood duck" and so on. All of them are famous dishes in western Hunan.

Hunan cuisine

***The same flavor is used in spicy and waxy dishes. Chaotian chili peppers, which are known for their strong spicy flavor, are produced all over the province and are the main raw material for making spicy dishes. The production of bacon has a long history, and has been rumored to have a history of more than 2,000 years in China. The three regions of the dish has its own characteristics, but the well is not completely different, but the same in the differences, differences in the same, interdependent, each other exchanges. A unified view of the whole picture, the knife work is fine, the shape of the flavor and beauty, seasoning variations, sour and spicy known, pay attention to the original juice, a variety of techniques, especially simmering and roasting. "Day and night the sound of the river down the dongting", with the advance of the times and the country's economic development, Hunan cuisine, the odd flower, will bloom more brightly colored.

3. Xiang Cuisine

Xiang Cuisine has a history of more than 2,000 years, and after being immersed in the rich Hunan culture, it has boldly innovated while inheriting the advantages of Xiang Cuisine, which is y loved by people all over the country and even the world, and the influence of Xiang Cuisine has been increasing year by year in the whole country with its growing contribution to the economy of the province. Hunan as the land of fish and rice, in the development of Hunan cuisine industry has an inherent resource advantage, the development of Hunan cuisine industry is bound to drive the development of agricultural and sideline products, promote the development of food processing industry, promote the Hunan cuisine catering industry to the modernization, branding, industrial chain development direction.

Agricultural resources-based industry, the most extensive, the strongest industry, I think the first push catering industry. Hunan catering industry is the main body of Hunan cuisine industry. 2006, Changsha City, Hunan cuisine enterprise retail sales reached 11 billion yuan, accounting for 85.9% of the city's retail sales of food and beverage. Hunan cuisine industry is in urgent need of quality and speed up the key point, need to seize the opportunity to take more effective measures to promote their own optimization and upgrading.

The most important thing is to focus on creating a trend that can lead the Hunan cuisine, to support the development of large-scale food and beverage "aircraft carrier" to enhance the overall competitiveness of the Hunan cuisine industry. Not long ago, by the Hunan Huatian Hotel Co., Ltd. as the main sponsor, joint large Ronghe, Xiangxi Tribe, Yihua aquatic products, Pai Pai Foods, Xiangcai Industry Promotion Association and other 10 well-known units and natural *** with the initiation of the establishment of Huatian Xiangcai Limited, this is the development of the Xiangcai industry milestones, but it is also the first step of the long march, the future of the specific things to be done is still a lot.

Secondly, we should focus on promoting innovation in the Hunan cuisine industry. The introduction of modern enterprise system, and gradually develop and improve the processing, service, management standards, and constantly improve the standardization level of Hunan cuisine catering, and promote management innovation; to grasp the high-grade, characteristics, boutique dishes (points), flavor dishes (points), folk dishes (points) development and operation, accelerate the process of catering food industrialization, the development of Hunan cooked food, and promote dish innovation; to adapt to the diversified consumer demand, the development of community services, customized services, the development of green catering, theme restaurants and catering supermarkets, and promote business innovation.

Once again, we should focus on optimizing the development environment of Hunan cuisine industry. Optimize industrial policy, the development of catering industry into the overall planning of economic and social development, the development goals, policies and regulations and preferential measures. Improve the service system, strengthen departmental service functions, reduce administrative intervention. Strengthen the construction of food culture, guide the catering industry with advanced cultural concepts of business enterprises, enhance cultural tastes. Emphasis on talent cultivation, reform of vocational skills education and so on.