Idaebang really is delicious, but it suits the Korean palate so well that I kept ending up there. Hunan cuisine uses loads of garlic and chili as a matter of course, so honestly, aside from the lack of kimchi, you could call it Korean food and I’d just nod along. It took actually going to China to realize how vast the country is and how varied its food can be.

Entrance

They keep the ingredients out by the entrance, which seems to be a trait of Hunan restaurants. Look to the side and there’s rice too. Hunan is apparently famous for its rice.

Fish

There’s a fish tank as well…

Chicken soup

Nothing special flavor-wise, but the spices in it make it feel like it settles your stomach.

Fish dish

Loaded with garlic and chili.

Century egg with peppers

This one was tasty too, so I ordered it again.

I think this was daikon…

It was decent enough.

Braised dish

This one also came packed with garlic and chili. Great with rice.

Stir-fried pork belly

The spices came through stronger than the meat.

Put it on rice…

…and it’s the perfect thing to eat with rice.

Side dishes

Perfectly fine, nothing more…

Rice

There’s a rice variety called Wuchang rice, and it turns out there’s a rice cooker designed to cook that particular variety perfectly. Since it’s built specifically for the rice, it can’t help but taste good no matter how shabby it looks… Wandering around, I noticed most restaurants serve their rice from a similar cooker. When you think about it, selling these cookers alongside the rice makes the whole brand experience better, so pushing this kind of sales strategy seems like a win for the rice growers, the restaurants, and the customers who get to eat great rice. Thanks to it, I learned about a delicious rice variety myself. Then again… a culture where the whole rice cooker gets plonked on the table and everyone helps themselves is probably something only China could pull off…

Rice

It says Wuchang Dami, and this is the branded rice. They sell the cooker too. The grains really are small and chewy, and it was seriously delicious… I was tempted to bring a bag home…

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