An Ode to General Tso

Wyld_Stallyn · April 30, 2003, 4:54pm

Oh Great One,

I know not whether you ever actually existed as a commander of Chinese forces, but oh, how great you must have been. For you have inspired one of the most delicious and delectable delicacies this world has ever witnessed. How I yearn to taste the trademark flavors and embrace the MSG-laced juices that dribble seductively down my chin. How I cringe when I reach the end of the meal, and I have to wait in longing for our next rendez-vous.

May you rest in peace, wherever your mortal remains lie, Great One, knowing full well that your legacy has indeed been a glorious one.

hocow · April 30, 2003, 5:47pm

mouth watering

I absolutely LOVE General Tso’o Chicken. By far my favorite food. Unfortuantely I’m low carbing and can’t have any :(.

CrankyAsAnOldMan · April 30, 2003, 5:51pm

My husband had never eaten The General before. I gave him a bite and he said “Mmmm. Is there meat somewhere in that fried candy coating?”

Kilt-wearin_man · April 30, 2003, 5:54pm

There was a General Tso, several centuries ago. A great, legendary military commander who somebody decided to honor by naming their delicious chicken dish after.

Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor · April 30, 2003, 6:00pm

There was once a Goth/Chinese Restaurant that served “A Genereal Tso Wat” chicken.

Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor · April 30, 2003, 6:09pm

I mean "General Tso Wat".They also served Angst-Fried Rice and Wurld-So-Dum and I remember where I saw it, & here’s the link.

chukhung · April 30, 2003, 6:16pm

I think the best article about the origin of “General Tso’s Chicken” is on this page, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59302-2002Apr16?language=printer

The dish itself, has more modern origins, apparently. From the same page

But to others, General Tso’s chicken recipe may be no more ancient than 1972, and may have more in common with Manhattan than with mainland China. On “The Definitive General Tso’s Chicken Page” (www.echonyc.com/~erich/tso.htm) New Yorker Eric Hochman theorizes "It was invented in the mid-1970s, in NYC, by one Chef Peng.

“Around 1974, Hunan and Szechuan food were introduced to the city, and General Tso’s Chicken was an exemplar of the new style. Peng’s, on East 44th Street, was the first restaurant in NYC to serve it, and since the dish (and cuisine) were new, Chef Peng was able to make it a House Specialty, in spite of its commonplace ingredients.”

My [Michael Browning’s] own research led me to the same city, but a different Manhattan restaurateur, who claims the dish is the brilliant invention of his former partner, a gifted Chinese immigrant chef named T.T. Wang.

“He went into business with me in 1972,” said Michael Tong, owner of New York’s Shun Lee Palaces, East (155 E. 55th St.) and West (43 W. 65th St.). "We opened the first Hunanese restaurant in the whole country, and the four dishes we offered you will see on the menu of practically every Hunanese restaurant in America today. They all copied from us.

Sengkelat · April 30, 2003, 9:32pm

Mmmmn, candied meat. (My wife and I have been using that as a term for a particular chinese dish for years now)

So, now I’m all tasted up for General Tso’s chicken…

AND THERE’S NOT A DECENT CHINESE RESTAURANT ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY! AAARGH! Curse island living, and curse you all too. I’ll go eat my mac and cheese and suffer alone.

Cosmopolitan · April 30, 2003, 9:37pm

Damn. Now I’m hungry! Curses…

wanders off in search of a take-out menu

porcupine · April 30, 2003, 10:16pm

One Chinese restaurant I used to frequent labeled this dish “Generic Chicken” on their buffet spread. It was yummy, though.

DeVena · April 30, 2003, 10:17pm

MMMMMmmmm Hot & Sour soup and General Tso’s Chicken… Not just for breakfast!

I can feel my arteries hardening already!

Duke_of_Rat · May 1, 2003, 1:12am

And I bet they got their recipes from the immortal cookbook:

“101 Ways to Wok Your Dog”

<ducks>:rolleyes: