Szechuan vs. Hunan Chicken

Main Difference

One of the most ancient civilizations, Chinese is quite rich in heritage; they have their styles, customs, tradition, and even their foods. The food is also a kind of the cultural representation of the specific place. Like many other things like traditions, games, and festivals, food recipes from China are equally famous across the globe. Here we will be differentiating it between the two famous Chinese dishes, which are followed by cooking techniques around the globe. The Szechuan is the Chinese dish originated from the Sichuan province (China), whereas Hunan is the Chinese dish originated from the Western Hunan, which is the province of China. The Hunan chicken is spicier as compared to the Szechuan chicken as fresh peppers are used in Hunan, which raises the chill content of it.

Difference Between Szechuan and Hunan Chicken

Comparison Chart

What is Szechuan?

The Hunan Chicken is the Chinese dish of Western Hunan province; it is seen as one of the eight great traditions of Chinese cuisine. It should be kept mentioned that Hunan is the cooking technique which is named after the Chinese province; the chicken in the name denotes the usage of chicken in this dish as meat. The Hunan is also prepared using the rabbit, beef or any other meat. The Hunan Chicken, which has fresh peppers and chicken as the main ingredient is popular across the globe, especially in the US. Mainly there are three styles of Hunan cuisines, which are different because of the belonging from the different regions. Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and Western Hunan province are the regions, which make the difference is the style of Hunan cuisine. The hot fresh peppers are one of the main ingredients of this recipe along with usage of vegetables. The Chill paste or the dried peppers are also used in the preparation of Hunan chicken, which makes it quite spicier as compared to the other such chines cuisines. The Hunan chicken has a unique aroma and deep color, which is made sure using the cooking techniques like stewing, smoking pot-roasting and frying. In America, the Hunan Chicken is served with the Sichuan sauce. The cured and smoked ingredients are used in the preparation of the Hunan chicken.

What is Hunan Chicken?

The Chinese cuisine of the Sichuan province origin is known as the Szechuan. In this type of cuisines, the process pepper paste is used, which makes it less spicy and hotter than the Hunan. The Szechuan cuisine comes in seven flavors, known as aromatic, salty, sour, sweet, bitter, pungent and hot. The four sub-styles of the Szechuan are Chongqing, Chengdu, Buddhist, and the Zigong vegetarian style. Other than chili paste and the garlic, ginger and peanuts are the other important ingredients of this cuisine. The ingredients used in this dish are preserved using the drying, pickling or salting. And for the cooking purpose, techniques like steaming, braising, and stir-frying are used. The Chill oil is heavily used in this recipe which enhances the hotness of this food. The bean chili paste is also used to enhance the taste of this cuisine.