Hubei cuisine

Hubei cuisine
Chinese	湖北菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Húběi cài
E cuisine
Chinese	鄂菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin È cài

Hubei cuisine, also known as E cuisine, is derived from the native cooking styles of Hubei Province in China.

History

Hubei cuisine has a history of more than 2,000 years. The names of dishes and cuisine styles can be found in ancient literature such as Chuci of Qu Yuan.

Ingredients

As Hubei has plenty of lakes, rivers and marshlands, freshwater produce are used as major ingredients in the local cuisine. A key ingredient that is found within many Hubei-style dishes is the lotus root.

Style

Hubei cuisine emphasises on the preparation of ingredients and the matching of colours. It specialises in steaming techniques. Its style is influenced by the cooking methods of the cuisines of neighbouring provinces such as Sichuan and Hunan. As a result, Hubei cuisine also uses dried hot pepper, black pepper and other spices to enhance the flavour of dishes.

Hubei cuisine comprises three distinct styles:

• Wuhan style, which specialises in soups. Wuhan is also known for its noodle dishes, such as hot dry noodles. Additionally, Wuhan is famous for its dry pots, which are similar to hot pot but without the soup base.
• Huangzhou style, which is more oily and tastes more salty than the others.
• Jingzhou style, which specialises in fish dishes and uses steaming as the primary method of cooking.

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  Freshly made noodles drying in the sun in Futu, Huangshi Municipality
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  Chilli peppers sold in Wuhan

Gallery

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  Pork-ribs and lotus root soup
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  Steamed fish cakes
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  Fried Hongshan Caitai
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  Miba (Rice-made pancakes)
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  Pearl fish ball in broth
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  Pianpiya (Hubei Duck)
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  Mianyang Sanzheng (The three steaming dishes of Mianyang)

See also

• List of Chinese dishes