What's the difference between Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine?

Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine have always been popular with the public. There are similarities and differences between them. Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine are also famous for their spicy taste, and inexperienced diners often confuse them. Today, I'd like to give you a brief introduction to the differences between Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine.

Hunan cuisine originated in Hunan Province, and has formed a unique system as early as the Han Dynasty, which is mainly spicy and delicious. But up to now, I especially like the taste of hot and sour. If you can eat spicy food the most, then Hunan is definitely in the top three. Hunan cuisine cannot be separated from Chili, especially the most famous millet spicy. Xiaomi spicy is a kind of pepper.

Steamed fish head with diced red pepper

The representative dishes in Hunan cuisine are: fish head with chopped pepper, small fried meat and crispy radish skin. Both of them use pepper as the main flavor enhancer, and the ingredients and accessories complement each other after cooking.

In rural Hunan, we can see that every household has crispy radish skin, which is a special dish with chopped pepper, diced and fried with chopped pepper.

Crispy radish skin

On the other hand, the cooking techniques of Hunan cuisine are mainly simmering, stewing, waxing, steaming and frying, with changeable practices and naturally changeable tastes.

Braised pork slices in brown sauce

Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine are both spicy, so most friends can't tell what Sichuan cuisine is and what Hunan cuisine is. At one time, some diners even classified the fish head with chopped pepper as Sichuan cuisine.

Actually, Sichuan food is not always considered as spicy. Sichuan cuisine is characterized by spicy and delicious flavor, and there is almost no pepper in Hunan cuisine, because Hunan people basically can't adapt to pepper as seasoning.

However, pepper is an extremely important seasoning in Sichuan cuisine. Whether it is the famous Mapo tofu, husband and wife lung slices or ordinary home-cooked dishes, peppers occupy an extremely important position.

Pork lung new Chili sauce

In terms of taste, Sichuan food has many flavors. There has been a saying since ancient times that all kinds of dishes have different flavors.

Generally speaking, the biggest difference between Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine is that Sichuan cuisine does not put pepper, Sichuan cuisine puts pepper, Sichuan cuisine eats more hot pot, and Hunan cuisine mainly cooks.

chafing dish

So far, is Hunan cuisine better or Sichuan cuisine better? Nowadays, diners think that Sichuan cuisine pays too much attention to seasoning, and the dishes they eat are just like instant noodles. More and more diners point to Hunan cuisine.