Chinese Food — Hunan Cuisine English0701: Rita,Daisy,Luice,Erica

Hunan Cuisine Also known as Xiang Cai, Hunan cuisine has already developed into a famous culinary school in China. Hunan dishes consist of local dishes from the Xiangjiang River area, Dongting Lake area and Western Hunan mountain area. Hunan's culinary specialties are akin to those of the chili-rich Sichuan dishes. It is also characterized by thick and pungent flavor. Chili, pepper and shallot are usually necessaries in this division. However, Chili, peppers, garlic (suan) and an unusual sauce, called "strange-flavor" sauce (guai wei jiang) on some menus, enliven many dishes, with a somewhat drier intensity than that of their Sichuan counterparts. Sweetness, too, is a Hunan culinary passion, and honey sauces are favored in desserts such as water chestnut or cassia flower cakes.

Hunan is known as "the land of fish and rice". Like the west in latitude, it has the added bonus of lowlands for rice cultivation and a rich ocean's edge for fish. Hunan food is characterized by its hot and sour flavor, fresh aroma, greasiness, deep color, and the prominence of the main flavor in the dishes. Hunan food is hot because the climate is very humid, which makes it difficult for human body to eliminate moisture. The local people eat hot peppers to help remove dampness and cold. The main cooking methods for Hunan dishes are braising, double-boiling, steaming and stewing. It is also renowned for its frequent use of preserved meat in cooking. Rice is the staple in Hunan, but northern-style side dishes and fillers are also popular: bean curd "bread" rolls or dumplings and savory buns. They are further signs that Hunan is one of China's culinary heartland, incorporating many flavors and regional influences.

Typical courses include:  Dong'an chick (The Speciality of Yongzhou)

 peppery and hot chick

 stir-fried tripe slivers

 StewedTurtlewithChilli ， GarlicandVinegarinSupremeSoup

FFish Head with Two Flavors

 Deep-fried Shrimp with Home-made Sauce

板栗烧鸡

豆鼓排骨

口味虾

麻辣田鸡

Phrases:  attend to:deal with ① pay attention to,notice Eg:Mary attended to the childen ’ s story patiently. ② look after,deal with Eg:He had to spend a lot of time attending to his work as a green- hand.

 remain indifferent to:show no interest ① cold hearted,unintersted Eg:It ’ s quite indifferent to me whether you go or not. ② just,fare Eg:Mr.Smith is an indifferent judge. ③ unimportant,ordinary Eg:It ’ s just an indifferent performance.

 ultimate adj. ① last,eventual Eg:The old man ’ s ultimate wish was to see the Green Wall. ② essential,basical Eg:What ’ s the ultimate use of this tool? ③ farthermost,farthest Eg:the ultimate end of life to the ultimate ends of the world

Sentence Patterns:  Contrast:contrast man ’ s different attitude towards music,lecture, business with that of food to emphasize the positive effect food play in our daily life.  Rhetorical question( 反问 ): “ How can one remain entirely indifferent to …… ? ” Through a set of rhetorical questions to illustrate the fact that on one would neglect the importance of food in life.

PParallelism: “ One can listen to music … … ;One may listen to a lecture or conversation …… ;One may attend to matters of business ……” The multiple use of parallelism on one hand strengthens the tone of a sentence,on the other hand make the article be full of flexibility and diversity.

Function of the quotation  The quotation is taken from the introduction to Kenneth Lo, The Chinese Cookery Encyclopedia, Collins,1974.  It acts as an introduction which causes our curiority to read the whole article to the very end.