Hunan cuisine?

[LaurenAmber]

Since im just about to start my K3 i have lots of time to prepare for his arrival. My biggest worry is how to cook Hunan-style cooking. I have no idea even what "Hunan-style" means, it's just what my husband asked me to do.

 

For him, the biggest adjustment issue he will have is the food. My family largely prepares meals with main ingredients like bread, cheese, pasta, and dairy products. It's obviously something my husband is not used to at all, and the times he's tried anything with cheese, he get's sick.(seems like lactose-intolerance).

 

So i want to learn how to make "Hunan-style" cuisine to help my husband feel a lot more at home. I'm a pretty well trained chef so the difficulties of dishes are not a problem. However, i seem to be allergic to most Chinese foods. I don't know if it's certain spices or certain ingredients, but most things just straight make me sick. That means no ability for "trial and error" of food. So it seems i need to use recipes or, of course, as you wonderful people.

 

So can anyone help me to learn what "Hunan-style" food is? and how to prepare it? Thank you so so much

[Sebastian]

Hey - Welcome back to the states... Jetlag sucks, ya?

 

Hunan-style cooking has been generallty accepted now in USA as a real style of cooking, so you can find many printed cookbooks at your local library (or use their library loan program on their web portals to get it in).

 

A google search of 'Hunan Recipes' will be useful for ya..

 

How's yer kitchen? You geared up for gas and wok and a steamer thingie? You can 'get by' on electric wok, but it's just not the same, as most wok-cooked dishes are made with HIGH HEAT.

 

You may have a severe MSG allergy - you can cook WITHOUT MSG whilst yer practicing (no, it won't taste the same) .

 

I haven't seen him in a while here on CFL, but send a PM to 'chef4u' , ask him about 'spice replacements' for msg allergies - he'll have some good ideas for you.

 

Are you in a big city with a ChinaTown? Go by one of the bigger markets, check out the utensils and the spices and 'sauces'... At least get an idea of whats available locally. MOST of the stuff in the 'Asian' section of your typical 'American' market just ain't the same stuff, though there be exceptions. ASK the managers WHERE to buy the HIGH HEAT GAS BURNERS.

 

Did you get to watch Mama in the kitchen at all? If not - go rent 'Eat Drink Man Woman' and watch the first 5 minutes - even in slow motion. Sure, it's a Taiwanese Movie, but the kitchen prep work is almost the same.

 

HTH !!

 

PS - Note to Jin - here's another one of those 'BuyMe on Amazon' affiliate opportunities !

Edited October 29, 2008 by Darnell (see edit history)

[LaurenAmber]

Thanks, Jetlag is TERRIBLE! That's why many of my posts on here may seem a bit nonsensical right now. Sorry bout that.

 

I'll definitely do a google sweep. I also asked hubby to take some pictures of his favorite food when he has them. That way i can maybe decipher what it is and try to fix it.

 

I had checked my library and it didn't really return anything. I'm not in that big of a city. It's growing, but most real chinese cuisine you will have to get from one of the many chinese families here.

 

I've got a regular stove, (not those flat top electric, and not gass, that heated round coil thing yanno?) I don't have a wok, i figure it's essential to buy a proper wok for cooking. My kitchen is nice with really good room for cooking, it's just very basic.

 

and OMG i didn't even consider it was an MSG allergy!! I told him i had no problem with some of the chinese food in America (I'm limited due to allergy to mainly carrots and mushrooms, and a couple others) but now that i think about it, most of the places i've eaten have those big signs of "NO MSG USED!" It really would explain it, hmm. I'll have to bring that up at my next allergy test. I swear i have so many allergies it's a little insane.

 

I'll swing him a PM, because that would work really well. Because it's not like i think the food tastes bad, it's that it had REALLY adverse affects on my body (Tho there is some that i thought tasted really bad lol)

 

We don't have a Chinatown but we do have enough people here that one is probably on the horizons. We have a couple of asian grocery stores. It would probably pay to ask the owners some questions ne? It's always a little intimidating when i do go in for a couple things. I always get strange looks like they think maybe i got lost and that's why i'm there. I guess i'll just go straight in and ask them instead of trying ot putz around on my own lol

 

I didn't get to watch Mama at all. She actually made a point of shutting and locking the kitchen door until dinner was done. I'll definitely check oout that movie. I also found a Taiwanese drama called Rolling Love (Hey it's got a member of Fahrenheit in it and Danson Tang, it already wins with me lol i love TW dramas) it's all about cooking and my husband saw some eps and remarked on the food looking delicious. So i guess i'll study that too hehe

 

Thanks so so much!

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Amber,

 

so nice to see you sharing your experience. One of the sweetest and most helpful things that my wife says often to me is, "Don't think too much." Just those few words carry tons of weight. You can plan and plan, and then realize that all that time planning would have been better spent doing something else, more fun even. I just keep right on trying though to ease the bumps and tough times for my family. I guess that's just a part of loving someone.

 

[izus]

does your husband cook at all?

alot chinese men cook.

[LaurenAmber]

Amber,

 

so nice to see you sharing your experience. One of the sweetest and most helpful things that my wife says often to me is, "Don't think too much." Just those few words carry tons of weight. You can plan and plan, and then realize that all that time planning would have been better spent doing something else, more fun even. I just keep right on trying though to ease the bumps and tough times for my family. I guess that's just a part of loving someone.

 

 

For me right now i'm still in the shock of not having him here. So i'm trying to keep myself busy with all sorts of preparations for him to come. (like organizing my giant closet into two halves, or repainting the bathroom). I guess i'm just going a little nuts trying to stay busy haha

 

 

does your husband cook at all?

alot chinese men cook.

 

Weeeeell, he CAN cook... just not anything that anyone other than him will eat lol. I'm sure it's great to him... just not anyone else lol. Also one of my friends wants to give him a job when he gets here (he was that impressed by my husband's portfolio) and working there would get him home that would be a bit too late ot cook dinner. My job has me home early enough to cook

[rogerluli]

My wife is from Hunan and the cuisine is really quite simple...

 

Half whatever you're actually making...

 

 

And the other half fire-breathing peppers...

[rogerluli]

My wife is from Hunan and the cuisine is really quite simple...

 

Half whatever you're actually making...

 

 

And the other half fire-breathing peppers...

 

Oh and the meat...er I meant FAT...

 

You need to find meat that's 80% fat and 20% lean...

 

Hubbie will feel right at home...

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Weeeeell, he CAN cook... just not anything that anyone other than him will eat lol. I'm sure it's great to him... just not anyone else lol. Also one of my friends wants to give him a job when he gets here (he was that impressed by my husband's portfolio) and working there would get him home that would be a bit too late ot cook dinner. My job has me home early enough to cook

 

One of the major ingredients you'll need if you want to cook any kind of Chinese food, is a large gas flame and a burner made to hold a wok. Almost impossible to cook on a flat top stove or electric burner, and make it properly.

[Sebastian]

Hey Lauren - when you get over ya jetlag, re-read my first response. Take a long weekend, plan a buying trip into Atlanta at the Chinatown shops. Yer chinese neighbors - are they PRC or Taiwanese? Most Taiwanese in the USA actually discriminate against PRC people, so be wary. If they are PRC people, ask them where they get their cooking gear.

Edited October 29, 2008 by Darnell (see edit history)

[LaurenAmber]

My wife is from Hunan and the cuisine is really quite simple...

 

Half whatever you're actually making...

 

 

And the other half fire-breathing peppers...

 

Oh and the meat...er I meant FAT...

 

You need to find meat that's 80% fat and 20% lean...

 

Hubbie will feel right at home...

 

 

I know right??? That was something i noticed a lot of! And every since we had moved back home with the folks, hubby was always sick to his stomach. I told him it had to be all that spicy food that he wasn't used to eating lol

 

Heh i think the meat thing i might have covered haha. I'm in the south afterall lol it's pretty easy to find meat with a high fat content lol. But when i got him to try bacon (which he fell in absolute love with) he didn't like the pieces with lots of fat. I dunno, that may just be trial and error

 

 

One of the major ingredients you'll need if you want to cook any kind of Chinese food, is a large gas flame and a burner made to hold a wok. Almost impossible to cook on a flat top stove or electric burner, and make it properly.

 

Yeh i can kinda tell. It won't be the same with my stove right now. So I might try to check the asian markets and ask them what i need.

 

 

Hey Lauren - when you get over ya jetlag, re-read my first response. Take a long weekend, plan a buying trip into Atlanta at the Chinatown shops. Yer chinese neighbors - are they PRC or Taiwanese? Most Taiwanese in the USA actually discriminate against PRC people, so be wary. If they are PRC people, ask them where they get their cooking gear.

 

My father lives in Atlanta and he just told me he's right near Chinatown. So that actually will be a big help. I'll be spending each holiday with him for about a week so i'll take that as a great chance to learn alot.

 

And they are mostly PRC. There's a couple TW (I watch dramas with them lol). There's a LOT of Chinese people here, most of them i havn't even had a chance to meet yet. The Chinese church here is also one of the bigger churches, my husband is excited about that.(He wants to go to church but is afraid he'll get lost with the english) I'll make sure to talk to the PRC people for tips. Thanks!