Hunan cuisine, also called Xiang cuisine, is one of the eight cuisines in China, which is not only popular in China, but also welcomed abroad, such as the United States, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Hunan cuisine has an aromatic and spicy flavor as pepper is the most important condiment. Its representative dishes include Steamed Fish Head with Chopped Chili, Tasty Lobster, Changsha Stinky Tofu, Hunan Rice Noodles, etc.

湖南菜，又稱湘菜，是中國八大菜系之一。湘菜不僅深受中國人喜愛，在海外也很受歡迎，如美國、歐洲、日本和東南亞。湘菜最大的特色是香辣，這是因?yàn)槔苯肥瞧渲饕{(diào)味品。代表菜有剁椒魚頭、香辣小龍蝦、長沙臭豆腐、湖南米粉等。

Hunan Cuisine’s history is pretty long and is not shorter than other cuisines. It may be originated from the banquet after the worship ceremony in ancient Shu State in Eastern Zhou Dynasty. By late Warring States Period, the ingredients and cooking methods had been quite mature. Up to Western Han Dynasty, there had been a variety of dishes in Hunan, and Hunan food formed its own characteristics in materials, cooking methods and flavors. In Tang Dynasty, Hunan Cuisine dishes were quite rich and different Hunan food was cooked for different occasions, like those for birthday, wedding, funeral and promotion. It welcomed its golden age in Ming and Qing Dynasties. As the pepper was introduced into China, the spicy flavor of Hunan Cuisine was confirmed. Meanwhile, advertised unconsciously by Hunan chefs and celebrities it became more and more popular.

湘菜歷史悠久，不比其他菜系短。它可能起源于東周古蜀國祭祀儀式后的宮廷宴席。戰(zhàn)國晚期，食材和烹調(diào)方法已經(jīng)相當(dāng)成熟。西漢時(shí)期，湘菜種類繁多，在用料、烹調(diào)方法、風(fēng)味等方面已經(jīng)形成了自己的特色。唐代，湘菜已經(jīng)相當(dāng)豐富，不同的湘菜出現(xiàn)在不同的場合，如壽宴、婚宴、喪宴和燒尾宴等。明清時(shí)，湘菜達(dá)到鼎盛。隨著辣椒被引入中國，湘菜的辛辣特色得以定型。同時(shí)，湖南廚師和名士無意識(shí)的宣傳，讓湘菜變得越來越受歡迎。

Hunan Cuisine dishes have a general flavor of spicy, in particular aromatic and spicy and sour and spicy, which are their well-known flavors. The raw materials are well matched, so that different tastes of ingredients influence each other to achieve a perfect flavor of a whole dish. These foods are usually cooked with more oil and appear to be darker compared with other cuisines.

湘菜大都有辣味，特別是香辣和酸辣，最具代表性。食材的合理搭配，讓不同的味道相互滲透，進(jìn)而形成完整的獨(dú)特風(fēng)味。和其他菜系相比，湘菜色澤上油重色濃。

In Hunan cuisine recipes, the ingredients cover a wide range of products, from plants, to land animals and seafood. People in Hunan like pickled vegetables and salted meat, which are also widely used as ingredients.

在湘菜菜譜中，配料涵蓋了從植物到陸生動(dòng)物和海鮮的各種產(chǎn)品。湖南人喜歡泡菜和臘肉，它們也被廣泛地用作食材。

Hunan people love chili very much, and most Hunan Cuisine recipes include chili, either dried one or fresh one. They also invent a great variety of methods to cook chili with different flavors, for example, sour and spicy taste by fermenting chili in pickle jars; numb and spicy taste by cooking chili with Sichuan pepper and garlics. Fermented soya bean, tasting a little bitter, is another important condiment in Hunan Cuisine. The fermented soya bean produced in Liuyang is the famous local specialty.?

湖南人喜歡辣椒，大多數(shù)湖南菜都有辣椒，辣椒無論干鮮均可入菜。他們用各種各樣的方法，讓辣椒呈現(xiàn)出不同口味，例如，以泡菜法發(fā)酵而成的酸辣味；加入四川花椒和大蒜的麻辣味。略帶苦味的豆豉也是湘菜的一種重要調(diào)味品。

Various cooking methods are there for various Hunan cuisine dishes. The most remarkable skill is stewing. There are not a few kinds of stewing: stewing with clear broth, thick broth, milky broth, etc. Stir-frying is also a prominent cooking skill of Hunan cuisine. In addition, braising, curing, steaming, frying and other skills are of equal importance.

不同湘菜都有不同的烹飪方法。最具特色的方法就是煨。煨的種類很多，如清湯煨、濃湯煨和奶湯煨。炒也是湘菜的一項(xiàng)突出烹飪技巧。此外，燉、煲、蒸、炸等也同樣重要。