In Henry Chung’s Hunan Style Chinese Cookbook (1978), the author – a former diplomat for China’s Nationalist government and San Francisco restaurateur who introduced Hunanese cuisine to the United States – writes that the people of his home province live large. “Hunan people use bigger spoons, longer chopsticks, larger plates, and larger tables than people from other provinces. They also send out oversized invitations to their parties. Hunan meals are much heartier than most other meals in China, and Hunan food is the only kind of Chinese food that can offer diners a most satisfied feeling during – and also after – eating. Hunan food can be appreciated only by serious people – people who do not regard eating as merely a daily routine.”
Chung, who died in 2017 aged 99, also writes about their love for spice. “There are three explanations as to why they like hot and spicy food so much. One has it that hot pepper and spices are used instead of salt because Hunan is far from the salt-producing areas of Szechuen [Sichuan] and to the east of Kiangsu [Jiangsu] Province, where sea salt comes from. The second is that, because of their hot and humid climate, the Hunanese people eat hot pepper and spices to promote perspiration. And the third says that, because Hunan abounds with food, Hunan people try to eat more than they otherwise could by adding hot pepper and spices to stimulate the dull appetite.”
Some of the province’s dishes have made it into mainstream Chinese cuisine, and you’ll find red braised dishes and kung pao chicken on many a menu. You will find recipes for those dishes in the cookbook, but not for one “classic” that many people automatically associate with Hunan cuisine – General Tso’s chicken. The dish isn’t traditional Hunanese and is believed to have been created either in Taiwan or the US.
