Almost 20 years ago, I moved to a small town in remote (still) western Hunan. I had already been in China for a year, studying their language in Xi’an. There, I was kind of mollycoddled. I lived on campus. The move to Hunan was eye and mind opening.
First of all, I was the only foreigner in a hundred mile radius and Moly wasn't there to coddle me. It was deep end territory. In fact, the town was officially closed to foreigners and I believe still is. It is bang in the centre of some of China's largest nuclear weapon storage. I probably glow in the dark. I had some sort of special dispensation.
The nearest other foreigners were a three hour train journey away. All the Chinese I had painfully learned in Xi’an proved next to useless. Everyone spoke one of a hundred local dialects.
It is a mountainous area and each valley was isolated from the next until Mao forced railway lines through in the late 1950s. So, their linguistic diversity was enormous. Also, a large part of the population were from ethnic minorities whose languages are more closely related to Thai than to Chinese. They couldn't understand each other. What chance did I have? Somehow I survived.
I stayed two years and loved it. The scenery and the people were beautiful and I still go back regularly to visit lifelong friends I made there.
What I loved most was the food! I had never known anything like this. It didn’t resemble anything I knew as ‘Chinese food’.
The smoky, spicy flavours were intense, yet subtle too. The salty smoked cured meats will be giving the WHO and IARC palpitations.
There was a street of Mom and Pop restaurants near my home who served the best food I have probably eaten anywhere. I gave them all names. Gate Restaurant, Police Restaurant, Claudia’s Restaurant, Sleeping Restaurant, Chili Restaurant. There is a story behind each name. I was delighted to learn recently that Claudia’s Restaurant is still there and is known to the few English speaking locals as Claudia’s to this day. There was never a Claudia there! A long story for another time.
Despite one restaurant being called Chili Restaurant (at least in my lexicon), they were all chili restaurants. Xiangxi (as west Hunan is commonly known) food is often (usually) hotter than Sichuan food which has the reputation.
It finally came time to move on, which I did with many regrets, and arrived in Guangxi. I was so disappointed with the food at first. It seemed so bland, at first. Still I soon learned to find what I like. I never had to do that in Hunan. And there are some Hunan restaurants in town – a couple of which are very good.
So, to get to the point, a few days ago I came across this Hunan cookbook in the local bookstore and had to buy it. It sort of presents itself as a high-end gourmet Hunan tome, but has many of the dishes I enjoyed in the Mom and Pop places. It also has dishes which aren’t Hunanese at all, especially in the first section, which I cover here.
The book is called 芙蓉厨王20年厨萃 which means Lotus Kitchen King 20 Year Collection, and is compiled by Qi Guangming (齊光明).
Sample pages - Western Hunan Bandits' Duck
Here are the first section’s contents.
As ever, some I have translated rather directly, for amusement value. Others are more explanation than translation. All errors are mine. If anyone wants clarification of anything, please ask. I may not know, but I will try. And I have a huge backup team of Hunan friends to consult. Please quote the page number with any question.
Section 1 - 金牌特色 Gold Medal Specials
10 潇湘甲鱼 Xiaoxang Soft Shelled Turtle
11 洞庭臭鳜鱼 Dongting Scent Mandarin Fish
12 金牛踏海 Golden Beef Steps on the Sea
This is sea cucumber served with beef ribs. Hunan is a land-locked province far from the sea, so I am surprised how many recipes feature this so-called delicacy. I never encountered it in Hunan.
13 石锅野生鲶鱼 Stone Pot Wild Catfish
14 本鸡炖鱼翅 Chicken Stewed w Shark's Fin
15 土家羊排 Family Style Lamb Chop
16 农家叫公鸡 Peasant Family Rooster
18 龙眼扣黑猪肉 Dragon’s Eyes Black Pork Bowl
龙眼 also means the fruit Longan, but here the dragon’s eyes are lotus seeds.
19 金米炖海参 Golden Grain Sea Cucumber
The golden grain is millet
20 鮰鱼狮子头 Bullhead Catfish Meatballs
Language note. I have given the first character here in Traditional Chinese, although the book (and Hunan) use Simplified Chinese Characters. Neither of my word processors (or Google etc) have the character in simplified form although the book does. It seems to be an unofficial simplification, of which there are many.
20 粉皮羊肉 Bean Jelly Goat
羊肉 can mean sheep or goat but the ingredients list specifies 山羊肉 which is goat.
21 葱烧关东参 Onion Stewed Guandong Sea Cucumber
Guandong is an area of north-eastern China, roughly equivalent to Manchuria ( a name most Chinese hate, it having been coined by the occupying Japanese in the 1930s and 40s.) Anyway, a long way from Hunan.
21 花开富贵 Blossom's Riches
Ha! These are little flowers made from broccoli, shrimp and ox penis!
22 酸辣梅花海参 Hot and Sour Peach Blossom Sea Cucumber
23 老火佛跳墙 Buddha Jumps Over The Wall
Again not a Hunan dish.
24 土锅炖甲鱼 Dry Pot Stewed Soft Shelled Turtle
25 松茸扣辽参 Matsutake Mushroom Sea Cucumber Bowl
26 清汤辽参 Sea Cucumber in Clear Soup
27 酱椒鱼头 Fish Head in Spicy Sauce
28 老坛鱼翅四宝 Old Jug Shark’s Fin Four Treasures
29 木瓜炖雪燕 Stewed Snow Bird’s Nest in Papaya
30 太极鸳鸯燕 Taiji Yin-Yang Bird’s Nest
This is one of a number of Chinese dishes which are plated to resemble the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol, known in CHinese as Taijitu.
In this case the dish is made of white and red bird's nests laid in the bowl to emulate the symbol. Red bird's nest is very rare, so it is often faked using food dyes etc.
31 薏米辽参 Job’s Tears Sea Cucumber
32 红烧木瓜鱼翅 Red Cooked Shark’s Fin in Papaya
I'll be back soon with the meat section which strays less from Hunan.
