The word “Hunan” has appeared in the names of Chinese restaurants in the United States, and in the names of dishes on their menus, for decades, without many Americans knowing what it meant exactly.

Chances are excellent that, if you’re dining at a restaurant with “Hunan” in its name, you’re not eating food anyone born in Hunan province would recognize. Four decades after Americans fell for this ...

The cuisine of Hunan province is less well known here than some of the other Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cooking, though more famous than others — ever heard of Anhui or Zhejiang? It’s very ...