Hunan Cuisine is one the eight famous schools of cuisines in China. It is known for its delicate use of pepper, which results in a pungent flavor. In Changsha, you can try some authentic Hunan dishes, such as Spicy Young Chicken, Zuyan Shark's Fin, Braised Eel, Chicken, Dove and Sparrow, Changsha Maren Crispy Duck, etc.

The snacks of Changsha are also appealing in terms of its taste, appearance and variety.

Some special areas to sample the local snacks: Nanmenkou--the famous crayfish of "Si'aijie" Restaurant and bean curd with odor of "Wu'aijie" Restaurant; Huogongdian (Fire Palace) Restaurant--snacks of the most complete sorts; Xianfengting (Pioneer Hall) --- the best place for Crock Soup; Yulin Rice Noodle Restaurant opposite the zoo.

Bean Curd with Odor

The best bean curd with odor is at Huogongdian Restaurant, which has a history of one hundred years. In 1958, Chairman Mao had bean curd with odor in Honggongdian Restaurant when he visited Changsha City.

Bean curd with odor in Huogongdian Restaurant is made of Liuyang fermented soybeans and bittern, which was made of winter bamboo shoot, dried mushroom and koji wine. The fried bean curd of odor is crispy outside and tender inside. It is so delicious to eat with capsicum oil, castor oil and sauce.

Changsha Maren Crispy Duck

Changsha Maren Crispy Duck is the masterpiece of Shi Yinxiang, the famous chef in Changsha. Fry the fat duck and pour oil onto the skin until the color become golden. Add some pepper power, sesame oil and cut to pieces. Put to the plate and decorate with head, wings, duck webs and caraway.

Deyuan Steamed Bun

Deyuan Steamed Bun has thin skin and big stuffing. The sweet stuffing is made of candy, rose candy or sweet-scented osmanthus candy. The meat stuffing is made of pork, dried mushroom and jelly oil.

Deyuan was built during Guangxu Period of Qing Dynasty. It got its name from "where there is morality; where there is happiness, there is endurance" from the ancient book "The Spring and Autumn with commentary". Originally, it was a small shop run by a couple. After several times of change of owners, there was no great success.

In the beginning of the Republic of China, several unemployed official chefs bough Deyuan and moved it to the crossing of Fangxi Lane, Huangxinglu, offering the customers the dishes of feudal official. There were always some leftover of seafood and fresh foods, so they chopped these food and made the stuffing for bun. To their surprise, the bun with such stuffing was quite popular. From then on, Deyuan steamed bun became famous.

After "Wenxi Fire" accident, some of the original chefs rebuilt the restaurant and named it Deyuan Teahouse. Gradually, it is well-known in Changsha for its "Eight Baozi", which are Rose and Sugar, Dried Mushroom and Pork, Sugar and Salt Vegetable, Crystal Sugar, Sesame, Shrimp and Pork, Seashell and Pork, and Barbecued Pork Baozi.

Liu Defang Tangyuan (Dumpling in Soup)

Liu Defang Tangyuan is a famous snack of Changsha City. It is sold in Liu Defang Tangyuan Restaurant only, which was established in Daoguang Period (1812-1850) of Qing Dynasty.

Liu Defang, nicknamed Liu San, was born in a poor family and sold tangyuan to make a living. Due to the good material and nice taste, his tangyuan was very famous. In 1852, Liu Defang went to buy flour and found that there was a sycee in the flour. So he went to buy six bags of flours and got another six sycees. With the silver, he bought a restaurant to run tangyuan. For the nice taste of its tangyuan, the restaurant has been very popular.

Kouwei Shrimp

Lobster is kind of big shrimp with crust propagating crazily in the lakes. With pepper, aniseed, fennel, garlic, gingers and other seasonings, stir-fry it with wine and cook it until done. It look red and quite delicious. It is so hot, but one cannot help eating it again and again.

There are some other nice dishes, such as: Beef Tripe and Bamboo Shoot Slices, Mushroom in Egg without Yolk, Spicy Little Chicken, Chicken, Dove and Sparrow, Spicy Saizi (deep-fried dough twist), Yang Yuxing Noodle, Sisters'Tuanzi (Dumpling).