| Hunan 湘菜 |
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 Hunan cuisine is also called Xiang Cai 湘菜, and sometimes call Mao family cuisine, or Mao jia cai 毛家菜, because Mao Zedong came from Hunan. Abutting Sichuan in its northwest corner, Hunan food is frequently described as similar to but spicier than Sichuan food. While both are in China’s western region and traditionally used spicy food as both a “cooling agent” and a preservative, Hunan cooking uses more fresh chilies and whole chilies with seeds which have sharper spiciness compared to the warm heat of pickled chilies and chili sauces and the numbing spice of the special peppercorns (hua jiao) used in Sichuan cooking. Another key ingredient of Hunan cuisine is their fragrant cured pork which is used like bacon and seasons many dishes.
Recommended dishes and specialty foods
腊肉 - la rou: cured pork, smoky and bacon like; good in almost any dish. In this dish, la rou is sauteed with fragrant garlic tops (suan miao or suan tai - 蒜苗/蒜薹)
蒸鱼头 （胖头鱼） zheng yu tou: steamed Fat Head fish. The fish head is split vertically so you enjoy the dramatic presentation and easy access to all the tender morsels of meat infused with the mellow heat of the diced chilies. When you have picked the bones clean (don't forget the cheek meat!), they add a pile of toothy noodles for you to enjoy with the broth.
蘑菇/香菇/菌- mo gu/xiang gu/jun: mushrooms of all kinds are served steamed, stewed and spiced in Hunan; this photo is of a dish cheekily named 'ge zhong gu niang', or 'all types of maidens', a Chinese word play using 'gu niang' for 'mo gu' or 'xiang gu', for mushrooms
茶树菇 - cha shu gu: tea tree mushrooms
红烧肉 - hong shao rou: most famous Hunan specialty of braised pork belly
湘干 - xiang gan: smoked tofu, also a featured ingredient in many Hunan dishes
蒜苗蛙腿 - suan miao: frog’s leg with garlic greens
酱椒蒸鱼头（胖头鱼） - jiang jiao zheng yu tou: steamed split fat head fish in a savory sweet broth topped with minced chilis
风吹萝卜土家腊 - feng chui luo bo tu jia la: slightly dried radishes with Hunan ham
腊肉 - la rou: any dish with their delicious smoky Hunan ham
砂煲四季豆 - sha bao si ji dou: a savory, spicy play on the ubiquitous gan bian si ji dou, with black beans lending added depth to the flavor
爽口西芹 - shuang kou xi qin: lightly tart shredded celery salad （also found in other regions, such as Sichuan or Zhejiang)
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