The province we will start off on our journey, which is a bit similar to the tour of the olympic torch, is Hubei (湖 北). Fish  comes in all varieties, especially steamed fish. Even a kind of sushi can be found here. Seafood is so popular because of the proximity to the fish-rich rivers, the Yangtze is particular with its three gorges. The Yangtze valley was the cradle of Chinese civilization.

Interesting blends of tastes (orange, cucumber) are also an important characteristic. The material is cut and arranged with meticulous care, to make the dish pleasant for the eyes (attention is payed to the colours of the ingredients as well). The food is rather spicy (at least in Wuhan that's the case), although dishes from he Huangzhou area can be rather salty and oily. More sugar is used than in other parts of China, contributing to a distinct sweet-sour (from the vinegar) taste. Apart from fish, soups are very popular. Hubei cuisine does not rely on stuffings (like in dumpling etc.) so much, instead meatballs (made from beef, although not as common as in other eastern provinces) and fish rolls are eaten as they are, to go with rice. Even Chairman Mao is said to have been partial to one of the local specialities (from the Wuhan area) - rice balls with a savoury-sweet flavour wrapped in pancakes made from bean flour. Other popular dishes include (recipes to come) desserts made form fermented rice, hot dry noodles and soy-braised chicken.

Here is an interesting article (entirely in Chinese) about 鄂菜 (e4cai4) - Hubei cuisine.

Hi all, I’m starting to use this group to post recipes. The goal is to learn some recipe, cooking, and food vocab.  If you baidu the name of your favourite dish along with 食谱 (shípŭ, recipe) or 做法 (zuòfă, method) you will come up with a lot of recipes.  (Pinyin works just fine in Baidu as well, I’ve just discovered – it takes the pinyin and gives you suggestions in characters.) Feel free to add corrections/suggestions both to the recipe or the Chinese.

食谱 蕃茄炒蛋 shípŭ ：fānqiéchăodàn

油,４鸡蛋, ２-３蕃茄,盐,胡椒

yoú、4 jīdàn、2-3 fānqié、yán、hújiāo、

cooking oil, 4 eggs, 2-3 tomatoes, salt, pepper

将 鸡蛋 打散,把 蕃茄 切片 (有些人先去蕃茄皮但是我觉得太麻烦)

jiāng jīdàn dăsàn、bă fānqié qiēpiàn (yoŭxiē rén xiān qù fānqié pí、dànshì wŏ juéde tài máfan)

scramble the eggs and slice the tomatoes (some peel them, but I think it’s too much trouble)

锅热,放两汤勺油,油热,放鸡蛋炒一下到３／４熟的就乘出. 

guōrè,、fàng liăng tāngsháo yoú、yoúrè、fàng jīdàn、chăo yīxià dào 3/4 shúde jiù chéngchū。

 Heat your wok/pan, then heat 2 tbs oil. Add the eggs and cook til ¾ done, then remove from pan.

在加一点油, 入蕃茄, 炒一炒到香软的. 加鸡蛋,一起拌炒.加一点盐,胡椒

zài jiā yīdiăn yoú、rù fānqié、chăoyīchăo dào xiāng ruăn de。 jiā jīdàn, yìqĭ bànchăo。jiā yīdiăn yán、hújiāo.

Add a bit more oil if needed, then the tomateos, cook the tomatoes til they are soft and fragrant. Add the eggs to the tomatoes and stir everything together, then add salt and pepper.

This page has many tips and more elaborate recipes for scrambled eggs and tomatoes.