Hunan is a large province in central south China. Its name means "South of the Lakes", the lakes in question being the big complex of lakes on the central reaches of the Yangtze. Hunanese food is HOT. There is a saying in China: the people of Sichuan, aren't afraid of hot food; the people of Hunan, if the food is hot, they aren't afraid of it; the people of Guizhou, they are afraid of the food if it's not hot. Hunanese food is not as well known outside China as Sichuanese, which it resembles. Chairman Mao was a native of Hunan, and it is said that every day of his life he had a dish of his favourite Hunan-style "Hongshao Zhurou" braised pork. Actually it's not very hot, but every self-respecting Hunan restaurant has a version of "Mao family braised pork".