Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Peppers

Steamed fish head with chopped peppers gets its unique flavor in a combination of the fresh fish head and the spicy pepper. It well demonstrates the attractiveness of the dishes in Hunan. When the fish head is steamed, the nutrition of the fish is well preserved with the spicy pepper penetrating into it. The fish head therefore, is soft and tender, fresh and a little bit hot.

It's said that the fish head can trace back to the year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty. A prestigious scholar Huang Zongxian, who was against the Qing government, boarded in a poor farmer's home in Hunan when he fled away from Beijing to avoid persecution. The farmwife was tortured that there was nothing to cook in the house. At this moment, her son came back from the pond in their farmland, hanging a fish in his hand. So they cleaned the fish and made fish soup out of it. And the fish head was steamed with their home-grow pepper. They had fish to fill in their stomach that day and Huang thought the fish head was wonderful.

Back home, Huang told his cook to improve the fish head to a better taste. So there comes the steamed fish head with chopped pepper today.

Fried Stinky Tofu

Stinky tofu has nothing special on its name, but it still does show some degree of fancy and character if you enjoy it.

Fried stinky tofu can be easily found in many cities, but Huogongdian in Changsha is the most famous place to have it. It maintains the freshness of white bean curd as well as the crisp of the fried tofu. In 1922, Mao Tsetung invited Li Lisan, a leading worker in Changsha, to have a meeting together discussing the strike of miners in Anyuan coal mining. They talked while walking and found themselves in Huogongdian all of a sudden. So Mao treated Li stinky tofu there. Mao even made the metaphor of stinky tofu to illustrate the necessity of holding the strike.

Each of them had one bowl of fried stinky tofu. When done, the strike plan was set up already. They got up and left with content.

Sweet Oily Glutinous Dessert

Since Song Dynasty, the night market for foods gradually came into popularity. The delicious snacks could be easily found in almost every stall in streets and lanes. So many a literate men and poets, ladies and beauties gobbled down the food without paying attention to the dignity. However, when you have the steaming fresh sweet oily glutinous dessert fresh out of the frying pan, you have to be patient and blow away the heat at first and taste it leasurely bite by bite. Otherwise, your tongue will get burned. Only in this way can the sweetness and fragrance be slowly swallowed and gently digested in the stomach.

Three of them in the morning, you will have enough energy to support your work for the whole day. And another three in the afternoon is a reward for yourself and can be refreshing. The time seems to stop and everything around you seems to vanish when you focus on this bowl of sweet dessert. The golden and fragrant dessert is nothing but the whole world. Thinking about it, your mood is uplifted and you will feel better and be more hopeful towards the future.

Sisters' Glutinous Rice Ball

When talking about the soft and scent sisters'glutinous rice ball, an anecdote is worth mentioning.

Early in the last century, there was a master coppersmith named Jiang Liren. He had two beautiful and clever twin daughters. When Master Jiang grew old, he wanted to teach his daughters the secret skills he possessed on bronze brass. However, neither of his daughters was interested. Their hobby was to make glutinous rice balls. Jiang loved his daughters and helped them to prepare for a food stall in the market of Huogongdian.

The glutinous rice ball made by the sisters of Jiang had totally different shapes and tastes. One was tall and round with salty stuffing, but the other was short and sharp with sweet stuffing. The round one looked like the water chestnut and the sharp one garlic. In light of this, people made fun of them and said, "The rice ball you made was exactly the mirror of you two sisters, so why not call it 'Sisters'rice ball'?"

Hence, the Sisters'rice ball became their brand and stood the test of time over hundred of years.

Steamed Multiple Preserved Hams

Steamed Multiple Preserved Hams is a famous dish in Hunan cuisine, and it's really legendary. Long time ago, Liu Qi, once the owner of a small restaurant in a town, was forced to wander in an alien land by a landlord. Having nothing to do, Liu Qi begged for survival. With the New Year approaching, he was given some preserved fish, pork and chicken.

One day, feeling badly hungry, Liu Qi washed the given preserved stuff and added some condiments into a steaming pot and began to cook them under the roof of a rich family. Meanwhile, the house was full of guests.

After the drinking had gone through three rounds and all the dishes served, there was another flow of scent coming into the house. The guests couldn't help but ask the servant to bring out the dish. Tracing to the back door of kitchen, the servant found a beggar being about to open the steaming pot and enjoy his meal.

The servant bought the food in the steaming pot twice as much as its value and brought it to the dinning room. All the guests spoke highly of it. One of the guests on the table was a man of wealth who possessed a hotel in the city of Changsha. He inquired Liu Qi's background and took him to Changsha, working as a cook in the hotel. The dish steamed multiple preserved hams attracting many people far away to have a try.

Since then, the dish passes on and on to present days.

Lotus Root in Crystal Sugar Soup

Lotus root in crystal sugar soup is a common snack in Hunan. From its name, people can easily guess it's originated from Hunan province. Right! The lotus root in Hunan, also called Gong lian, is very special in this soup. It distributes mainly around the Dongting Lake. Xianglian not only has unique flavor, but also very nutritious. In the classic novel "The Story of the Stone", records has been made about how people regard lotus root as a food of highly nutritious value. When Yuanchun came back to her home for a visit, the lotus root soup was served and Baoyu ate the soup to accelerate the recovery as well when he was beaten and wounded.

In addition, Li Shizhen described lotus in his masterpiece "Compendiun of Materia Medica" as follows, "lotus is good for mental tranquility and physical strength. If you take it in a long period, you will lose weight, resist being old and prolong your life." Lotus is neutral in nature with a taste of sweetness and astringent. It is effective in reducing the blood pressure, strengthening the spleen and stomach, and also an ideal food diet therapy for mental health, heart and lung.

Fried Meat with Pepper

Fried meat with pepper represents the most common life in Changsha. Having a bowl of it, you can easily recognize the free and plain lifestyle of people in Changsha. The fragrance of the pepper and the local pork merged together in the meat soup at the bottom of the plate. Though rough and wild, the pepper doesn't seem to be unrestrained nor the pork to be flamboyant. Everything is so natural. With the fried meat and pepper, people can even eat more than one bowl of rice. This is what we should do to treat friends, honestly and sincerely.

The fried meat with pepper is so lively and authentic without any pretended hospitality. It is exactly what we want to see about food in such an earthly city.