GENERAL TSO IS KNOWN FOR WAR, NOT CHICKEN
General Tso’s chicken is a dish that is all but unknown in China. If you go to General Tso’s hometown in Hunan Province, almost nobody, even those hundreds of his family members still there, know of the dish.
So who was General Tso and why are we eating his chicken?
General Tso, also known as Zuo Zongtang, was a famous Qing-dynasty military hero who played a large role in quashing the Taiping Rebellion, which was sparked by a Chinese man who thought he was the son of God, and thus the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
About 20 million people died in the Taiping Rebellion, which still makes it the largest civil war in world history. General Tso played a large role in keeping China together.
The recipe we now recognize as General Tso’s chicken was actually introduced in New York City in the early 1970s by a Chinese chef who had moved here from Taiwan as part of the Hunan cuisine revolution. It became a runaway hit in part because the dish resonated with the American palate: it was chicken, it was fried, it was sweet, and a bit spicy.
So while in America, General Tso is like Colonel Sanders and is known for chicken and not war, in China, he’s known for war and not chicken.
Source: AOL Food
It is a well known Chinese legend that General Tso liked to choke his chicken often.
That’s why it tasted so sweet.
Word.
“General Tso’s Chicken”
Libel! Slander! Not True!
General Tso was a very brave man!
Obviously you won’t find General Tso’s chicken in China or anywhere else in the Far East. It’s one of those American invented Chinese things…like fortune cookies.
Ha!
She said he choked his chicken!
ROFLMAO!