Dine and Dish: Hunan Chinese Restaurant in northeast Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- For those in search of a dish that is "fire," Hunan Chinese Restaurant at Cedar and Herndon in northeast Fresno fans the flames.

The Mongolian beef with vegetables comes out hot. The meat is tender, tasty and a little sweet to go with the spice.

They turn up the heat here with the Szechwan style of cooking.

"I just let them know it's not your normal spicy," says Supervisor Lupe Espindola. "Only if you like heat, you try it."

Even if you avoid the red peppers, one bite's enough to get your attention.

General Manager Isaac Huang says most local Chinese restaurants serve Cantonese-style food -- dishes with sweet and sour or oyster sauce and dim sum.

Hunan is different.

"Every dish is kind of unique," Huang said. "Besides the spice, they are unique and have different flavors in them, so that's why Szechwan is so popular."

Some customers see the buttercream prawns as a dessert. Others order it as a main dish.

"Prawns with sesame seeds and strawberries sauteed in a rich sweet sauce," Espindola said. "Most people are surprised when I describe it as it comes with strawberries. But once they try it, they love it."

"Our pan-fried noodle is crispy," Huang said. "Made in the wok, unlike some other restaurants that would make in a big pan or a big pot. We're making it fresh so this is crispy on the bottom."

The noodles in this case are topped with chicken and vegetables.

Isaac cut the noodles into pizza-like slices.

Since I was a kid, I've always liked crispy fried noodles, which can be hard to find today.

The chicken salad is also popular.

"So our chicken salad is going to have a have a peanut dressing sauce," says Supervisor Carlye Braden. "It's going to have a sweet taste to it, which a lot of people love."

Hunan once offered two menus -- One in English, one in Chinese.

With so many options, from spicy to sweet, Hunan gives you plenty of reasons to "wok" this way.

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