Well, ok, the inventor of "General Tso’s Chicken is dead at 98 in Taipei.
Often I wondered the story behind that dish. Was it a spicy food contest between military men? Was the wine poisoned (hence the extra hot & spicy)?
and now I know (from the article):
Good. Lord. 2016 really has sucked, hasn’t it?
General Tso is also the commonly used name for Zuo Zongtang who was a military leader in the Qing Dynasty.
The documentary mentioned in the article, “The Search for General Tso” is available to stream on Netflix. Or at least it was as of last summer when I watched it. Good film.
Extra hot and spicy? Are we taking about the same dish? I find it to be only slightly spicier than sweet & sour chicken. Nothing even resembling hot.
I still love it, though.
Yeah, it’s just sweet and sour chicken with some garlic and chile added. That’s why it’s better.
I also saw it and enjoyed it. It was about more than just food. It talks about the whole Chinese immigrant experience, why so many open restaurants, and how what we call “Chinese food” of course is not really what is eaten in China.
When they showed chef Peng our version of General Tso’s Chicken he got very upset. He did not at all care for the addition of brocolli!
You have to ask for it “fire-tongue”.
…and even then its only REALLY good when “The Good Chef” is working that night…
First, the creator of the Big Mac dies, then the creator of Gen. Tso’s chicken. 
It’s still there; I think I’ll watch it tonight.
I always thought the dish was named by Tso’s enemies … a contraction of “General Tso is chicken.”
And the little peppers are not meant to be eaten, or get anywhere near your mouth. And for God’s sake do NOT rub your eyes after handling one.
I hope he didn’t take the recipe with him.
I love that dish!
If you’re talking about the dish that is served in the US, I don’t think that there’s any danger of the recipe being lost.
That reminds me of one of the really stupid things that go through my head.
I end up at a food court Chinese place for lunch at work fairly often. I at some point I started listening to other people make their order for General Sew/Sow/Toe/Tao/Cho/Chao/Tcho/Tchao/Tsoe/Tsao/Zo/Zow 's Chicken(or any of the other ways people pronounce it.
I think my favorite s the people who skip the whole name issue and just order “General Chicken”
Which gives me the smartass in me a barely resistible temptation to follow with an order for “Unspecified Pork”,“Generic Beef” and “Vague Vegtables”
Just finished watching thanks to these posts. Excellent documentary. Was a little disappointed they didn’t touch on the Cajun-Chinese stir fry though.
You mean the crunchy red ones…? They’re Great…! They’re like a little firework that you’ll need a sip of wine after eating.
They also seem to have useful gastrointestinal properties that may help to prevent bloating, but as I have no science or cite to back up that claim, I won’t go into it further. 
I actually had the manager (I think he was the manager) of a restaurant come over and tell us specifically that they were not to be eaten. (This was a nice restaurant, not one of those fast food takeout / delivery places.) Maybe one of his customers had a bad experience with choking or whatever.
Anyway, I touched one to the tip of my tongue one time and it was not an enjoyable experience. I see food as something to be enjoyed, not a masochistic test of machismo. 
As Seinfeld might say, “And yet… no mention of the broccoli…”
Dennis
I don’t always eat them, but sometimes I do. Its a personal taste thing like liver and onions… or any entree with a horrifically sour lemon sauce…
I often hear it called “the General’s Chicken”.
At a joint like that you’re getting Unspecified Pork, Generic Beef, and Vague Vegetables no matter what you order. The sauce may change, but the main ingredients remain mostly mystery stuff regardless. 
The best GT chicken is about 1 dried red pepper pod per 4 hunks 'o chicken. Eat every pod; they’re delicious. Be sure to chew the seeds properly for the full effect.
Damn. I know what’s for lunch now.