Inventor of General Tso's Chicken Dies at Age 98

Tide1986

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http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3042881

Chef Peng Chang-kuei (彭長貴), the founder of the famous Hunan-style restaurant chain Peng's Garden Hunan Restaurant (彭園湘菜館) and inventor of the world famous Chinese dish General Tso's Chicken, died on Nov. 30 at the age of 98 from Pneumonia.

A native of Changsha, Hunan Province, Peng began training at the age of 13 under the tutelage of the famous Hunan chef Cao Jing-chen (曹藎臣), who was the family chef of Tan Yan-kai (譚延闓), the prime minister of the Nationalist government from 1926 to 1928. After WWII, he was put in charge of running Nationalist government banquets, and in 1949 he fled to Taiwan after the Kuomintang's forces were defeated by the communists in the Chinese Civil War.

According to
an interview with the China Times, Peng says that his most famous dish was created in 1952 during a four-day visit by U.S. Seventh Fleet commander Admiral Arthur W. Radford. After three days, he had served the guests most of his repertoire of dishes, so to try and mix things up a bit, he decided to chop some chicken into big chunks, fry it to a golden hue and then added a different combination of sauce and seasoning to create a new dish.

The admiral was so impressed with the dish that he asked Peng what it was called, he thought quickly on his feet and said "General Tso's Chicken" (左宗棠雞).
 

Tide1986

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Nov 22, 2008
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There really was a General Tso. I assume that 1986 likes General Tso's chicken. I always stick with seafood when I eat Chinese.. the food not the people. :)

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14884
I grew up going to Loehmann's Village in Hoover and eating at the Hunan Cuisine Chinese restaurant, which later moved less than a mile south along Hwy 31 out in front of the old Walmart shopping center across from the old Chace Lake country club (basically the intersection of Data Drive and Hwy 31).

Hot and Sour Soup (with seafood)...check.
Egg rolls with Chinese mustard...check.
Mongolian Beef (lots of dried red peppers)...check.
 

Displaced Bama Fan

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Jun 5, 2000
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I was listening to ESPN's local radio yesterday in Houston and the last hour of the show from 6-7 that's all they talked about was this and their favorite local Chinese restaurants. Their producer is of Korean descent and they asked if Asians ate General Tso's and he said emphatically, "No. It's a white guy food." I was rolling.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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I was never tempted by it, but, if it kept him alive to 98, maybe I'll give it a try. Of course, there're probably a lot who think I've lived too long already... :D
 

rolltide_21

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Dec 9, 2007
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I love me some General Tso's chicken.

I've traveled quite a bit in Asia. Pretty much anything you get at a restaurant in the States is "white guy" food [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

bamachile

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I love me some General Tso's chicken.

I've traveled quite a bit in Asia. Pretty much anything you get at a restaurant in the States is "white guy" food [emoji3]
I only lived in Japan and Korea while in the Corps. If it isn't either bland or flavored like day-old sardines, though, there's a fair chance that it isn't from either country.
 

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