Hunan Cuisine-Stinky Tofu and Chili Peppers

The characters of Hunan cuisine

Xiang is a short name of Hunan Province because the Xiang River runs through its whole territory. Therefore, the dishes favored by Hunan people are called “Xiang Cai” (Hunan cuisine). Hunan cuisine, with a long history and the feature of strong flavors, is one of the Chinese Great Eight Cuisines. People are so impressed by the unique spicy flavor of Hunan cuisine that they always describe the features of Hunan dishes as heavy oil, thick colors and strong flavors. And the Chili peppers are the most important condiments, and Stinky Tofu is the representative dish.

One of the unique features of the culture of Hunan cuisine is the salty, fresh, lightly spicy, and a little sweet flavor. The sweetness is lighter than that of the Hunan cuisine. According to the book, “Collections of Hunan cuisine of China,” the widely known strong flavor of Hunan cuisine refers to the spicy flavor. Hunan people are famous for their preference for very spicy food. As a folk saying goes, “Jiangxi people like spicy food, Sichuan people love spicy food, and Hunan people can’t live without spicy food ."

Why do Hunan people like to eat spicy food

Hunan people’s habit of eating spicy food has an early origin. Qu Yuan's（340B.C.-278B.C.） “Songs of Chu” has recorded Hunan people’s custom of eating spicy, salty and sour food. Besides records in ancient books, the preserved black beans with spicy ginger unearthed from a 2000-year old Han Dynasty tomb wreck exhibited in Hunan Provincial Museum. It can be seen that spicy food was listed in the Hunan people’s menu a long time ago. 

Hunan is surrounded by mountainside in three sides and faces water in the north; with the cold wind blowing, Hunan becomes cold and wet in winter; with the hot air currents going north, it becomes very hot and wet in summer. Hunan features humid-cold and humid-hot weather. When chili pepper was introduced to China by the 16th century, Hunan people, who regretted that they had not known them earlier. After that, the people began to use them for protection against the cold and wet weather and later developed them into a delicacy.

Why in Hunan there are many chili peppers from other localities

They are thin cayenne peppers of Shanxi. It seems that in Hunan there are many chili peppers from other localities. Hunan has a population of 68 million. According to the calculation, there are more than 50 million people who need to eat peppers a day. So chili peppers are in great demand in the market. Local chili peppers are in short supply. That’s why there are many chili peppers from other localities. Besides, there are some imported from overseas. They are transported to Hunan. Therefore, Hunan has become a large trade center of chili peppers in China. This is a large consumption market.

The function of chili peppers: This delicious dish protecting people against the cold and wet weather has become a necessity of life for Hunan people who place emphasis or both food and medicine. Chili peppers play this important role because of their own unique properties. The chili pepper stimulates your nerves instead of your taste buds. When you eat something spicy, your nerve endings on your tongue and in your mouth are stimulated actually. When you hold a chili pepper in your hand, the nerve endings in your skin are also stimulated. Therefore, you’ll feel that your blood is rushing, and your whole body is burning hot after eating chili peppers, which are the effects of nerve stimulation.

Chopped chili peppers

Chopped chili peppers is an important food in every household. The special making method has become one of the unique characteristics of Hunan. Not only the techniques of using the tools, but also essential points about adding salt. Why is it necessary to add salt to these chopped chili peppers? 

Because the taste would be too light without salt added, and the peppers would go bad without salt. The peppers would be more likely to rot. The major procedure of making chopped chili peppers is to chop. After chopping a tray of chili peppers for two hours, put them into a jar, seal the jar, and store it. After three days of natural fermentation, people can take the appropriate amount of peppers out at any time to eat. The chopped chili peppers made are spicy with a sour and sweet taste, and they won’t go bad in one year. People always reckon chili peppers are condiments in Hunan cuisine, but they find that they can also play the leading roles sometimes.

Braised Pork with Soy Sauce (Red-Braised Pork) 红烧肉

The ingredient for making Red-Braised Pork is required to be the most exquisite part of the streaky pork. The three-layered streaky pork is used for the dish. There should be a combined layer set of lean and fatty meat layers, followed by the second and the third such layer sets. It can only use about 10 kilograms of pork out of a pig weighing 100 kilograms (or 200 jin). The secret of making the Hunan dish Red-Braised Pork is to master the skill of decreasing the pork. It has to separate the fat from the fatty meat in two steps. The temperature of the oil should be maintained at about 150 Celsius degrees. Sear the pork to eliminate surplus fat. The impressive strong flavors of Hunan cuisine are because of the use of such condiments as garlic, anise, ginger, cinnamon and plenty of chili peppers. And finally, the pork is to be braised. Braised with a big fire, the surplus fat will be separated so as to make the streaky pork less greasy.

Red-Braised Pork is a must dish at marriages and funerals of the folks in Hunan, but they call the dish “Lan Rou”(Ragged Meat). In the past when Hunan people wanted to Red-Braised Pork was also their top choice. The making of Red-Braised Pork enjoys high popularity among the folks. If the characteristics of Hunan cuisine are described as heavy oil, thick colors and strong flavors, then Red-Braised Pork is obviously the representative of Hunan cuisine.

Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili Peppers

Make the Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili Peppers need to use the male fish in the Dongting Lake, a Hunan dish famous for its hot and spicy flavor. It is the characteristic of Hunan cuisine. After killing the fish, scrape the scales off first. Another important point is to scrub and wash the dark membrane inside the fish to make it clean. The dark membrane smells stink and tastes a bit bitter.

After these steps, soak it in the sauce made of green onion, ginger, cooking wine and salt for about 10 minutes. Stir it to make the sauce. Upon completion, the flavors of green onion and ginger are mixed in the sauce. Pour the sauce over the fish head. The sauce made with green onion, ginger and cooking wine is indispensable. With the sauce over it, the stinky smell will be removed, and the fragrance will be highlighted. Then stir-fry the condiments and pour them over the fish. The flavor of Hunan cuisine is inseparable from the condiments.

The white condiments are minced garlic, the black ones are fermented soya beans from Liuyang city, the green ones are green onions, and the red ones are chopped chili peppers preferred by Hunan people. After stir-frying in hot oil, the unique feature of Hunan cuisine is highlighted. Make the heat higher. Add some sauce and some gourmet powder. The sauce made with green onion, ginger and cooking wine sinks in, and the fish head won’t smell stinky anymore. Pour the stir-fried chopped chili peppers over it.

Pour the mixed condiments consisting of stir-fried chopped chili peppers, fermented soya beans and minced garlic over the fish head. Do make sure to cover every part of the fish head fully. The bright red color has further highlighted the dish.

These are the procedures to make a genuine Hunan dish. Those are the chopped big chili peppers on the surface. Those who don’t eat chili peppers can push them aside and enjoy the fish inside. It tastes a little spicy. Those who prefer chili peppers can have the fish together with the chopped chili peppers. Because it is a famous and traditional dish of Hunan cuisine, a very representative Hunan dish.

Stinky Tofu

If you want to find a delicious snack with the most representative feature of Hunan cuisine on the streets of Changsha, most Changsha people will recommend Huogongdian (the Fire Palace Restaurant ) to you; because of the special flavor of a delicacy, there has been attracting many Changsha people every day. There have about 300 kinds of snacks, the most famous of which is Stinky Tofu; it is difficult for us to associate the black stinky tofu cubes in front of us with delicious food. However, so many Changsha citizens love it so much. No wonder some people believe that delicacies are people‘s memories of childhood. These tofu cubes, which are not very eye-catching, are closely connected with the memories of several generations of Hunan people.

The history of Stinky Tofu

An old couple with the family name Jiang was good at making tofu. Selling tofu under the conditions at the time, they found that their tofu is remaining unsold at the end of a day and they would become a little stinky if the weather was hot. They thought it a waste to discard that tofu. At first, they tried to steam the tofu, which didn’t work. Later, they considered frying the tofu with tea seed oil produced in Hunan. After the tofu wreck fried, the aroma immediately struck their noses, and the tofu tasted great.

Why do Changsha people like stinky tofu so much

Why do Changsha (capital of Hunan Province) people love Stinky Tofu so much? Because Stinky Tofu smells stinky, but it tastes delicious. It has a history of more than 400 years. It indeed has a unique flavor. The skin outside is crispy, and the tofu inside has a rich aroma. The secret of Stinky Tofu lies in the marinades as dark as ink. The marinade is made with fermented winter bamboo shoots, soya beans, etc. No one would ever think that the delicious marinade was made with the rotten and stinky leftovers in an accidental opportunity. 

The tofu cubes stink after soaked in the marinade but become pleasantly fragrant after fried in oil. You should control over the duration and the degree of heating is really important for making Stinky Tofu. All people in Changsha from kids who are not yet old enough to grow their permanent teeth to senior citizens more than 80 years old show special preference to these black stinky tofu cubes. However, in local residents’ view, Stinky Tofu is really a delicacy.

In here Stinky Tofu is not only a snack but also an ingredient in other dishes. Because Huogongdian has been selling Stinky Tofu for many years, and many customers want to raise Stinky Tofu to a higher level. So their chefs have tried to stew the pork knuckles together with Stinky Tofu. The flavor of Stinky Tofu is mixed with that of pork knuckles. The unique flavor of Stinky Tofu is blended in the pork knuckles, and the delicate flavor of pork knuckles is also blended in the stinky tofu cubes. In this way, both of the two ingredients will taste better. They will become more tasty and delicious.

Chinese Great Eight Cuisines

1. Shandong Cuisines: Salty fresh, thick oil sauce, food therapy health;
2. Sichuan Cuisines: Heavy oil, heavy salt, spicy hot;
3. Cantonese Cuisines: Original, salty, fresh and light;
4. Jiangsu Cuisines: Sweet and yellow wine;
5. Fujian Cuisines: Salty-sweet (southern), spicy (northern);
6. AnHui Cuisines: Heavy oil, heavy salt;
7. Hunan Cuisines: Heavy oil, heavy salt, heavy spicy, preserved flavor;
8. Zhejiang Cuisines: Special, fresh, tender, with yellow wine.