general-tso's-chicken-(左宗棠雞)
Tso Zongtang Chicken (左宗棠雞) was the first Chinese dish to cross the Pacific Ocean. Although the name of this dish is referred to General Tso Zongtang, it actually has nothing to do with Tso Zongtang himself.
General Tso's Chicken is a well-known dish in the United States, and it is also one of the most popular dishes among American Chinese cuisine. Crispy chicken wrapped in sweet, sour, spicy and salty sauce, the more you eat it, the more addictive it becomes. Tso Zongtang chicken is also known as Tso Jiangjun chicken, General Tso's Chicken and Tso-jia chicken. Nowadays, there are very few Hunan dishes that are directly named after a human name of Hunan and widely circulated like " Tso Zongtang Chicken". This dish is not only well-known in China, but many Chinese restaurants abroad also use " General Tso's Chicken " to attract customers.
" General Tso's Chicken" is famous because of Tso Zongtang's own name. Tso Zongtang is from Xiangyin County. He was a famous general in the late Qing Dynasty. General Tso Zongtang loved chicken all his life, especially fried chicken, which was fried until it was browned and crispy. Every time you lead troops to win a battle, you must roast chicken to reward the three armies. General Tso's Chicken became famous at home and abroad for leading troops to recover Xinjiang region. Tso Zongtang also became an influential and deterrent Chinese general in the West. " General Tso's Chicken" has also become an iconic dish of Chinese cuisine. But, as a matter of fact, the original " General Tso's Chicken " was invented by a Taiwanese chef. The chef is Mr. Peng Chang Gui (彭長貴), the founder of the famous Taiwanese restaurant Peng Yuan (彭園).
In 1952, Admiral Arthur William Radford, commander of the U.S. Pacific Seventh Fleet, visited Taiwan. Liang Xu Zhao (梁序昭), commander-in-chief of the Navy stationed in Taiwan, hosted a banquet for three consecutive days and invited Chef Peng Chang Gui to cook within three days. Every day should be different. On the third day, Peng Chang Gui saw that traditional cooking methods such as braised in brown sauce, steamed, and deep-fried are too common, so he had an idea and cut the chicken into large pieces and deep-fried the chicken until golden and crispy. Once cooked, drizzle with his best sauce and return to the skillet to stir fry a whole new dish. After Redford tasted it, he asked Master Peng the name of this dish, and Master Peng casually named it " General Tso's Chicken".
In 1970, Chiang Jing Guo (蔣經國), the son of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), took his entourage to “Peng Yuan”(彭園) Restaurant for dinner at night, and the master cooked " General Tso's Chicken " for Chiang Jing Guo. Chiang Jing Guo thought it was very delicious after eating it, and from the next day he also publicized the deliciousness of this dish to many people. Therefore, this dish became Peng Yuan's best dish.
To cook " General Tso's Chicken " selects 2~2. kilograms of best chicken drumsticks, boneless and skinless, and cut into six large pieces. Make sure it's the right size - too big won't taste good, too small, you'll over fry the chicken and marinate it with soy sauce and cornstarch. Deep-fry the marinated chicken drumsticks at an appropriate oil temperature until "dry on the outside and tender on the inside". Hit it with a frying spoon, you can feel the bounce and crispiness of the chicken, which is the best state when there is still water in it. Then stir-fry quickly with onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, dried red chili and other seasonings, and then stir-fry the meat slices together. Chicken skin curled like squid. The characteristic is that the chicken is skin-on. Seasoned with soy sauce, heavy oil and salt, the taste is spicy, neither sweet nor sour. After it was introduced to the United States, local chefs improved " General Tso's Chicken " from salty and spicy to sweet and sour to cater to the tastes of the American people.
In 1973, Peng Chang Gui went to the United States and opened the American branch“Peng Yuan”" restaurant on East 44th Street in Manhattan, New York. Dr. Ieoh Ming Pei (I M Pei) once invited Kissinger季辛吉 to“Peng Yuan”for dinner. Henry Kissinger likes it very much and goes there often. Henry Kissinger especially likes the dish " General Tso's Chicken ". ABC News once made a special program on this dish, and received more than 900 letters in two days, asking about the specific recipes of this dish. For a while, Chinese restaurants all over the United States couldn't wait to launch this " General Tso's Chicken ".
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English