Authentic Hunan Beef Recipe (One-Pan) (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Szechuan beef and Hunan beef? ›

The Spice Narrative:

While Szechuan cuisine is known for its numbing spiciness, Hunan dishes are celebrated for their pure, unbridled heat. This fiery character is attributed to the liberal use of fresh green chilies, dried red chilies, and shallots.

Q2: Is Hunan healthier than Szechuan? A: This depends greatly on the dish and cooking methods used. Both cuisines are high in salt, fats, and calories when eating out. Hunan food tends to have more veggies.

Hunan beef also packs in some heat in the form of chili peppers, but it's not a numbing heat whatsoever and I like to think of it as the milder cousin to Szeuchuan beef. What's the difference between Hunan beef vs Mongolian beef? Another favorite beef recipe of mine, Mongolian beef is much sweeter than Hunan beef.

Hunan beef is made from very thin slices of flank steak that are stir-fried with vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots. The sauce gets a hint of spiciness from fresh chilis and Sambal Oelek chili paste.

Many people know the spicy red hot flavors of Sichuan cuisine but in Hunan Province, the food is even hotter. Hunan food( Xiang cuisine (湘菜) - tastes less numbing but hot, sour, and salty. Their style of cooking includes sautéing, stir-frying, steaming, and smoking.

Hunan sauce is made with red chili peppers, chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Japanese rice wine, ketchup, brown sugar, and the secret ingredient – chili bean sauce or “Douban Jiang” (豆瓣酱). Chili bean sauce is made from chili peppers and fermented soy bean paste.

Steamed Fish and Vegetables

Takeout menus tend to offer a mild-tasting variety of protein-rich white fish, such as sole, and it's paired with mixed vegetables. The veggies add fiber, a key nutrient for digestion and heart health. If you have the chance to choose or add Chinese eggplant as a veggie, go for it.

Some lean protein choices include chicken, lean ground pork and fish. These proteins are often used in Chinese main dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken with Bell Peppers. Plant-based proteins, such as tofu, are also found in Chinese dishes. Tofu may be used as a meat alternative, providing protein from soybeans.

Whenever I go to my local Chinese restaurant, I always order the Hunan beef. The combination of steak and veggies in spicy sauce just can't be beat! This homemade version is actually quite simple to make; add a side of steamed rice and watch the rave reviews come in!

BAKING SODA

This is the KEY ingredient to super tender beef. Baking soda is commonly used in Chinese cooking to tenderize beef. If you're curious about the science behind it – baking soda neutralizes acid and raises the pH level, which causes the meat to become more alkaline.

What is kung bo chicken? ›

Kung pao chicken is Chinese-style stir-fried chicken cubes with dried chili peppers. It's a Sichuanese staple that was brought over to America and reinvented for local flavors and tastes. The Sichuanese version is a tad more complex, seasoned with Chinese peppercorns and a large heap of dried chili peppers.

Kung Pao Chicken is made with briefly marinated cubes of stir-fried chicken whereas Hunan Chicken is made with pan fried thinly sliced chicken lightly dusted in flour/cornstarch. Kung Pao sauce is savory and spicy like Hunan but it is sweeter and far less sour.

Hunan consistently ranks first nationally in rice output and exports a large surplus to other provinces. It is estimated that most of the province's cultivable land is devoted to paddies (wet-rice fields), a great many of which in the south produce two crops of rice per year and demand careful cultivation.

Hunan beef contains 228 calories per 217 g serving. This serving contains 12 g of fat, 15 g of protein and 16 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 5.2 g sugar and 3.3 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Hunan beef contains 2.1 g of saturated fat and 30 mg of cholesterol per serving.

Szechuan Beef has a sweet and spicy flavor with added chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorns. The Szechuan peppercorns has a distinctive tingly numbing sensation when eaten. Mongolian beef has a mild and much simpler taste, making it a kids' favorite, outside of broccoli beef.

General Tso's chicken is about the most dangerous Chinese dish on the menu—dark meat battered and deep-fried, then cooked with vegetables in a sweet, spicy sauce. Szechuan chicken, made with leaner, white meat and sautéed with vegetables, is a far better choice.